The main production point for iPhones, the Foxconn plant in the city of Zhengzhou, China, has been the center of agitated protests by its workers.
The employees of this plant have been protesting against the working conditions that they have had to face lately, marked by the delay of some payments, the non-compliance with the amounts offered as salary and even the lack of food.
Agitated demonstrations in the “iPhone city”
The aforementioned Foxconn factory, which is the largest dedicated to this task, is also known under the name of “iPhone city”, since around 70% of all iPhones that subsequently circulate globally are produced at that plant.
The demonstrations by the workers of this plant focused on the irregularities committed by Foxconn with respect to the payment of some salaries, the withholding of bonus payments and the strict sanitary policies applied by China.
These protests, which began with force this Tuesday, brought to light cases in which employees traveled long distances to work in this factory, motivated by economic promises that the company ultimately did not fulfill.
according to a AP agency reportLi Sanshan, one of the affected employees, said he quit a catering job after he saw an advertisement promising 25,000 yuan ($3,500) for two months of work in “iPhone city,” which was a significant increase. in relation to the average salary for this type of work in the area.
According to Li, once the employees attracted by this offer arrived, the company told them that they had to work two more months with a lower salary, to later access the promised payment of 25,000 yuan. “Foxconn launched very tempting recruiting offers, and workers came from all over the country, only to find out they were being cheated”said the worker of the mobilized plant.
Another aspect that influenced the outbreak of this demonstration was that, at the end of October, Foxconn imposed a closed-circuit surveillance system in its “iPhone city”, to verify that staff live and work on site, isolating themselves from the outside world. . From that moment on, thousands of workers left the company campus. For its part, Foxconn is trying to make up for this loss of manpower by recruiting new staff.
Outside of this specific condition, the work environment in China is particularly tense, marked by various worker protests throughout the country, due to the established confinement measures that have been forced again, in the face of the outbreak of a new wave of Covid-19. 19, the temporary closure of some industries and neighborhoods, a factor that in the case of Foxconn workers, further increased discontent.
Responding to inquiries from the press, Foxconn commented in an official statement that “complied with their payment contracts”also denying the accusations about the unfavorable living conditions of its employees.
The Foxconn employee protests started with force on Tuesday and spilled over the next day, with violent riots marked by windows and security cameras broken by protesters and even by physical confrontations with police.
Officials at this factory are currently aiming to resume full production capacity at its Zhengzhou iPhone plant. However, unofficial sources have told the press that Foxconn is unlikely to reach planned production targets due to this recent disruption.
So far, Apple has not issued a statement on this incident.
