Workers rioted at the Foxconn iPhone plant in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou. Video shared on social media shows hundreds of Foxconn workers marching, clashing with police, and being confronted by people wearing hazmat suits.
In the videos, you can see captured workers complaining about the food they had been provided, while others complain that they had not been paid promised bonuses.
Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant employs approximately 200,000 workers and is Foxconn’s largest iPhone factory. Foxconn assembles 70% of all iPhones sold by Apple. The company has struggled to retain employees, due to China’s restrictive lockdowns required by the country’s zero-COVID policy.
China requires cities to quickly spell COVID outbreaks via extreme restrictions. As COVID has spread in Zhengzhou, Foxconn workers have attempted to return home to avoid being trapped at the plant in the face of more stringent lockdowns.
Workers have also revolted against restrictions at the factory, including the closure of the dine-in cafeteria, and a shortage of supplies.
There are worries that the issues at the plant could cause iPhone output to fall as much as 30%. Foxconn earlier this month quadrupled daily bonuses to workers, in an attempt to retain enough workers to continue with iPhone assembly.
Foxconn also ramped up production at another factory in Shenzhen, but workers at the Zhengzhou plant have accused Foxconn of not living up to contract agreements.
(Via MacRumors)