Nov 28, 2022 16:00:00

Pointed out that the cause of the Foxconn employee riot in Zhengzhou, China was caused by the zero corona policy

In late November 2022, a large-scale

protest demonstration by employees occurred around Foxconn's Chinese factory, which produces iPhones. Ben Jian, a technology reporter living in China, and others commented on this problem, which is said to be caused by strict restrictions on going out and unpaid wages to curb the epidemic of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19). .

Inside Foxconn's 'iPhone City': how Apple's biggest contractor fell victim to China's zero-Covid policy | South China Morning Post
https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3201004/inside-foxconns-iphone-city-how-apples-biggest-contractor-fell-victim-chinas-zero-covid-policy

In Zhengzhou, Henan, China, where Foxconn's factory is located, hard-line policies have been implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic, causing anxiety among employees. According to multiple employees who were interviewed by the South China Morning Post, Foxconn has required employees to be tested for COVID-19 daily from October 10, 2022, according to the announcement by health authorities in Henan province on the day. Even though the number of asymptomatic patients was only 6, the sense of crisis about the pandemic increased among employees.

Rumors then spread that an infected person had been confirmed on the factory premises, and footage of a bus transporting workers to a quarantine facility was shown on Chinese social media. On October 19, local health authorities reported seven confirmed cases and seven asymptomatic cases in Zhengzhou. Foxconn has suspended meal services in employee dormitories and asked 200,000 employees to bring free food boxes to their dormitories. Also, it seems that employees were imposed restrictions on their behavior that they had to strictly follow the determined route from the factory to the dormitory.

The above efforts to reduce the risk of infection 'backfired as many employees were frustrated by the poor quality of the prepared food and the confusion associated with meal distribution.' points out Jiang et al.

Life on the premises has changed rapidly since Foxconn introduced a closed production system. Workers worry about being trapped in closed spaces during the COVID-19 outbreak and take to social media to raise awareness. On October 26, Foxconn management broke its silence, announcing that 'a small number of employees were infected' and began distributing Chinese herbal medicines said to be effective against the virus, but the situation did not improve. I did.

According to an employee who left Foxconn for fear of infection, the employee dormitory was an extremely poor environment. Eight people live in one room, sharing four bunk beds and one toilet is common, plus there is no proper cleaning service, discarded plastic food boxes outside the dormitory, etc. A lot of garbage was piled high.

Many employees left Foxconn because they couldn't stand the environment. As a result, production speeds were significantly delayed, prompting Apple to announce on November 6, 'The Zhengzhou factory is operating at a significantly reduced capacity, delaying shipments of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models. The impact will be clearly visible, such as

announcing that it will occur.

by Prachatai

The protest demonstration, which began on the evening of November 22, 2022, is said to have been caused by Foxconn's dissatisfaction with not complying with some hiring provisions in addition to the above-mentioned strict restrictions on behavior. In one case, someone was told that the 'retention allowance' promised to new hires working until February 15, 2023 had been changed and that they would need to work an extra month to receive their bonus. is.

As already reported, the protest demonstration that expanded in scale developed into a collision with the riot police, and some people were transported by ambulance. Foxconn apologized for a ``technical error'' in the hiring clause and promised to pay 10,000 yuan (about 190,000 yen) to those who retire. Sources say more than 20,000 workers have left Foxconn.

In order to help Foxconn, which is said to be responsible for 80% of Zhengzhou's exports, the local government is strengthening support by dispatching thousands of medical staff. ``Resuming production at Foxconn's Zhengzhou plant is an important battle that China must win to protect its position in the global economy,'' said Mei Xinyu, a researcher at the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. ``Chinese workers, who are guaranteed discipline, efficiency, and reliability, are rapidly disappearing due to COVID-19 regulations,'' Jiang et al.