Violent protests erupt at China’s biggest iPhone factory as trapped workers fight officials wearing safety gear

Violent clashes broke out at China’s biggest iPhone factory, with angry workers protesting against brutal Covid rules and dire living conditions.

Officers wearing a hazmat were seen brutally beating a man with batons as police desperately tried to persuade workers to return to their quarters amid ongoing protests at the Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou.

The protests, which began early Wednesday in China, were prompted by a plan to delay bonus payments, according to workers’ live feeds.

In a rare show of dissent, angry protesters chanted: “Defend our rights! Defend our rights!”, with some men smashing security cameras and windows with sticks.

In another clip, workers chanted, “Give us our wages!” while surrounded by officers. One night video shows a man with a bloodied face as someone from the distance says: “They’re hitting people, they’re hitting people. Do they have a conscience?’

Tear gas was also used during the violent clashes, with workers breaking down quarantine barriers.

The angry workers are furious about their living and working conditions at the factory under a “closed loop” system introduced by the Apple Inc. supplier in late October, which means employees on the site live in isolation from the outside world and work.

The protests took place at the Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou when several police and officers in hazmat suits surrounded the protesters and heard a voice from a loudspeaker urging workers to return to their quarters.

The clashes broke out after employees complained about wages and working conditions. Here, an angry worker may step on a nearby fence

As a result, unrest increased within the building and thousands of the 200,000 people who work at the factory staged a recruitment drive before tensions eased. Employees who left the company are outraged by strict quarantine rules, the company’s inability to eradicate outbreaks and poor conditions, including food shortages.

Foxconn has been forced to offer bonuses and higher salaries to retain employees and attract more workers.

After the protests, a new BBC staffer said he saw ‘a man lying on the ground with blood covering his head’.

He added: “I didn’t know exactly why people were protesting but they were mixing our new workers with old workers who [Covid] positive.’

Large crowds of workers could be seen protesting against their living and working conditions in the factory

One person at the protest was taken away by security personnel in hazmat suits

China still lives with militant coronavirus rules. At the plant, workers complained that outbreaks were not properly contained

At Foxconn’s iPhone factory, workers clash with police officers and people wearing safety gear

It comes after some workers at the factory complained about having to share dormitories with colleagues who tested positive for COVID-19.

Workers also complained about the factory’s lack of action or restrictions to contain a Covid outbreak. One person said, “Foxconn never treats people like people.”

A staff member said on a live stream: “They changed the contract so we couldn’t get the promised allowance. They quarantine us, but they don’t feed us. If they don’t meet our needs, we will continue to fight.”

The man also claimed to have seen a man “seriously injured” after being beaten by the police.

Workers said they were not treated as human beings by their employers. Pictured: Violent protests at the Foxconn factory

Most of the footage of the protests posted on the Chinese social media site Kuaishou was removed on Wednesday afternoon.

People were seen punching officers in protective suits and police officers while protesting, in the photo

In an email, Aiden Chau of China Labor Bulletin, a Hong Kong-based advocacy group, said: “It is now clear that closed-loop manufacturing at Foxconn is only helping to prevent the spread of COVID to the city, but do nothing (not to make matters worse) for the workers at the factory.”

One thing though A source familiar with the situation in Zhengzhou said production at the factory was not affected by the workers’ unrest and production remained “normal”.

Most of the footage of the protests posted on the Chinese social media site Kuaishou was removed on Wednesday afternoon.

China is still living under militant coronavirus rules nearly three years after the pandemic was first identified.

Investors are now worried about escalating global supply chain issues, partly due to the zero-Covid policy.

Their restrictions and discontent have affected production, and last month it was reported that iPhone production at the Zhengzhou factory could drop by as much as 30 percent this month due to COVID restrictions.

Unrest at the factory has increased since October. Thousands of employees fled the site. In the photo: the violent protests

However, a source denied that production was affected Labor unrest and said performance remains “normal”.

This is despite Foxconn previously reporting that it plans to resume full production at its Zhengzhou iPhone factory by the second half of November.

The source said the recent uncertainties had added “uncertainties” to the target, but the company was still working hard to meet it, adding that “only a portion” of the new hires had taken part in the turmoil.

But a second source said Foxconn was unlikely to hit the target, pointing to disruptions caused by the unrest, which particularly affected new recruits hired to fill the workforce gap.

“We originally looked at whether the newcomers could go online at the end of November. But with the turbulence, what is certain is that we will not be able to resume normal production by the end of the month.”

The company is Apple’s largest iPhone manufacturer and accounts for 70 percent of global shipments. Most of the phones are made at the Zhengzhou factory, but the company has smaller manufacturing facilities in India and southern China.

Workers assembling iPhones at a factory owned by Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn were forced out of the factory last month

Foxconn, officially called Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, has fallen 2% since unrest erupted in late October.

In a statement, Foxconn said it had honored its payment contracts and that reports of employees with COVID-19 living on campus were “false.” According to the BBC, the company said the dormitories were disinfected and checked by local officials before new people moved in.

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