Hundreds of workers demonstrated their anger in China on Wednesday over their living conditions and pay at the world’s largest iPhone factory, owned by Taiwanese Foxconn and subject to an anti-COVID lockdown.
Videos transmitted to AFP and others, broadcast on social networks, show a crowd of workers parading on the site. They face people in full white protective suits and riot police.
Foxconn confirmed on Wednesday that “violence” had indeed taken place in the complex housing the factory, which is located in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province.
It is a huge industrial site, dubbed “iPhone city”, which typically employs some 200,000 people, most of whom reside on site in dormitories.
Faced since October with an increase in the number of people who tested positive for the coronavirus, the factory is confined. Some employees had fled a few weeks ago, resulting in a labor shortage.
A video transmitted to AFP and taken by a worker shows an inert person on the ground, next to a man whose jacket is stained with blood and his head is wrapped in a bandage.
In other images, dozens of people in full protective suits wield batons as they chase workers. One of the employees is knocked down before being kicked in the head.
The worker who transmitted these videos to AFP estimates that around 20 people were injured in these clashes. He asked to remain anonymous to avoid possible reprisals.
“Chaotic”
According to him, employees were initially promised a bonus of 3,000 yuan (560 $CA), in addition to their salary, in exchange for the promise to work at least 30 days in the factory.
But, still according to this worker, the bonus would have been suddenly reduced to only 30 yuan (5.60 $ CA), which would have provoked the demonstrations, he declared to AFP.
Many workers are also unhappy with the “chaotic” living conditions, he said, adding that he personally had not received “anything to eat” from the company since Tuesday.
Workers who tested negative for coronavirus were forced to work alongside colleagues who tested positive and who had not been placed in quarantine, the worker also assured.
Foxconn acknowledged workers had complained about wages and working conditions at the plant, but denied accommodating new hires with coronavirus-positive staff.
“Regarding the violence, the company will continue to communicate with employees and authorities to prevent similar incidents from happening again,” the Taiwanese group said in a statement.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment from AFP on Wednesday.
China tirelessly pursues its zero-COVID health policy, which involves strict lockdowns, quarantines for those who test positive, and near-daily PCR tests, sparking growing public discontent.
Censorship
Students and workers are sometimes confined for many weeks to campuses or production sites.
On other images transmitted on Wednesday and whose authenticity has been verified by AFP, a man appears with a bloodied face. Off camera, another is heard saying, “They are hitting people, they are hitting people. Do they have a conscience? »
And in a video broadcast live, at night, dozens of workers shout “Let’s defend our rights!” in front of rows of police.
The hashtag #Foxconnriots appeared to be censored on Chinese social media on Wednesday and the local press was silent on the matter.
Foxconn is a large group that assembles electronic products for many international brands.
After the epidemic outbreak on the Zhengzhou site, the Taiwanese group had decided to confine the area, with the workers inside.
But hundreds of panicked workers had fled, some complaining of the disorganization reigning on the spot.
To keep the plant afloat, the company had notably promised large bonuses to the remaining employees.
The American giant Apple, whose iPhone is the flagship product, admitted in early November that the confinement of the site had “temporarily affected” the production of the factory, a blow before the end of the year holidays.
Foxconn is the largest private sector employer in China, with more than one million employees across the country.