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On Tuesday, thousands of workers at the Foxconn iPhone factory in Zhengzhou staged protests over a dispute surrounding the payment of their wages. 

Foxconn had reportedly offered increased wages to attract more workers to the world’s largest iPhone factory after protests earlier this month resulted in severe labour shortages. The additional labour was brought in to help assemble the new iPhone 14.

Migrant workers from across the country complained that the management had changed their payment terms, employee Li Sanshan told the Associated Press. 

Li quit his catering job after seeing an advertisement promising 25,000 yuan ($3,500) for two months of work. The amount, he said, was significantly higher than the average pay in the area for such type of work. 

However, after new employees joined the factory, which employs around 200,000 people and had hired an additional 100,000 as part of a massive recruitment drive, the company announced that they would have to work two additional months at lesser pay in order to receive the bonus amount.

“Foxconn released very tempting recruiting offers, and workers from all parts of the country came, only to find they were being made fools of,” he said.

Some workers complained that the company had also forced them to share dormitories with those who had tested positive for COVID-19.

Video footage from the incident uploaded to social media, much of which has been erased by Chinese internet censors, showed workers in face masks breaking CCTV cameras and windows, and confronting police personnel who were equipped with protective equipment and riot shields.

In one video, employees can be heard chanting “Give us our pay!,” while being surrounded by workers in hazmat suits. The videos also show employees breaking down quarantine barriers and advancing despite the use of tear gas. Some employees also reported being beaten by the police.

Officials from the ruling Communist Party also stepped in with one video showing a local secretary in charge of community services calling on protesters to back down and insisting that their salary demands would be met.

Foxconn claimed in a statement that reports of workers sharing dormitories with infected staff were untrue, saying, “Before new hires move in, the dormitory environment undergoes standard procedures for disinfection, and it is only after the premise passes government check, that new employees are allowed to move in.”

Furthermore, it assured that it had fulfilled its payment obligations. In addition, it has reportedly offered around $1,400 for newly-hired workers who want to quit in order to end the protests.

“Regarding any violence, the company will continue to communicate with employees and the government to prevent similar incidents from happening again,” the company said.

Apple, meanwhile, said, “We are reviewing the situation and working closely with Foxconn to ensure their employees’ concerns are addressed.”

Foxconn accounts for 70% of Apple’s iPhone shipments globally, most of which are assembled at the Zhengzhou plant. Moreover, the Zhengzhou plant was slated to produce around 80% of the latest iPhone 14 base models and 85% of the high-end Pro models. 

Thomas Forte, an analyst at D.A. Davidson, speculated that ongoing disruptions may impact iPhone sales well into March.

In contrast, a source familiar with the developments at the company told Reuters that the workers’ unrest had had no effect on the plant’s production and that its output remained “normal.”

The source added that “only a portion” of the employees at the plant participated in the protest.

However, this statement is contradictory to reports from earlier this month, when analysts had claimed that labour shortages at the plant could set iPhone production back by several months, leading to a 10-30% drop in output by December.

Foxconn shares have dropped about 2% since October and the shutdowns could cost Apple around $1 billion a week in lost revenue. The problem is especially concerning given that this unrest is taking place around the holiday period. During last year’s holiday quarter, Apple recorded around $6 billion in iPhone sales per week.

In early November, factory workers staged a mass breakout and fled the campus after a seven-day lockdown was imposed due to a reported COVID outbreak in the area, which triggered panic among workers.

The exodus was partially triggered by rumours circulating within the company, as well as the country’s intolerant and repressive zero-COVID policy. An employee said at the time that he had heard rumours that the army was going to come in and enforce a large-scale “living with COVID” experiment, which involved allowing everyone in that part of the city to become infected. According to the rumour, the plan was to see how many deaths would occur, which would help guide authorities on if and how to open up the rest of the country.

The incidents are the latest in a string of protests that have rocked China in recent months, a rare indication of dissent in a country that has tried to suppress any opposition against the government’s extremely stringent COVID-19 containment measures.

Author

Statecraft Staff

Editorial Team

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