China - Zhengzhou: Foxconn, the world's largest electronics contractor, denies that 20,000 employees have tested positive for COVID-19, Henan province - October 30, 2022

[sharon sanders]

COVID-hit Foxconn vows to ensure safe return of employees; epidemic situation generally under control
By GT staff reporters

Published: Oct 30, 2022 11:39 PM


The world's largest electronics contractor Foxconn issued three notices consecutively on Sunday to its factory workers at the Zhengzhou park in Central China's Henan Province, saying that arrangements and security protection measures have been made for employees who volunteer to stay in the park and those who wish to return home, after video clips that showed some workers allegedly from the park walking back home due to a COVID-19 outbreak sparked heated discussion during the weekend.

In the video clips, a number of workers allegedly from Foxconn are seen walking back to their hometowns with their bags on their backs. Along the way, many locals filled up the crossroads with drinking water and food - some on the ground while some in open cars, with a sign written "supply station for returnees from Foxconn."

The clips emerged after a COVID-19 outbreak hit the iPhone maker on October 25. On the next day, the company denied rumors claiming that about 20,000 staff had been diagnosed with COVID-19 at the company's Zhengzhou park. Only "a small number of employees" had been affected and production at the Zhengzhou park remained "relatively stable," the company said in a statement it sent to the Global Times on that day.

more...


zhttps://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202210/1278331.shtml

[sharon sanders]

Firm also urged to resume work ‘orderly’ as it moves to offset impact
By GT staff reporters
Published: Oct 31, 2022 09:35 PM

Local authorities in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan Province on Monday asked Foxconn to fulfill responsibility in anti-epidemic efforts and resume production and life in an orderly manner, as the epidemic situation at the plant drew nationwide attention.

The plant, which accounts for about 50 percent of iPhone's global shipments, faced serious difficulties due to the COVID-19 outbreak, as many workers reportedly left the facility and walked home, sparking widespread discussion online.

A notice posted on the official WeChat account of the Zhengzhou municipal government on Monday said that local authorities have asked Foxconn to fulfill responsibility in the anti-epidemic efforts and "restore the order or production and life in an orderly manner."

more..

zhttps://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202210/1278394.shtml

[sharon sanders]

Government media.


Foxconn Zhengzhou plant launches new hiring to replenish pool of workers
By GT staff reporters
Published: Nov 07, 2022 09:02 PM

The Zhengzhou plant of Foxconn in Central China's Henan Province started another round of recruitment on Monday in preparation for resuming full production, as the city has been striving to contain recent outbreak of COVID-19.

The manufacturer is "targeting full-capacity resumption in late November under the support of the government and clients," a source close to the matter told the Global Times on condition of anonymity on Monday. The source expected that the local COVID-19 outbreak will be put under effective control soon.

The Zhengzhou plant is hiring people at an hourly salary of 30 yuan ($4.18) until February 15, 2023, according to a WeChat post from the company's iDPBG group, a major section for the production of iPhones, on Monday.

To encourage those workers who left to come back to the plant, returnees who left between October 10 and November 5 will get a one-time allowance of 500 yuan.

more...

zhttps://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202211/1278924.shtml

[sharon sanders]

Viola Zhou

@violazhouyi
A Foxconn worker shared live footage from the ongoing protest at the Zhengzhou factory. He said workers had marched out from their dorms this morning to demand compensation, now they are facing riot police.




2:23 AM · Nov 23, 2022·Twitter for iPhone
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Viola Zhou

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He said many other videos showing police beating up workers were posted to workers’ group chats. Workers tried to go live on Douyin and Kuaishou, but livestreams were cut immediately. They are struggling to let others know what’s happening.
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Viola Zhou

@violazhouyi
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This worker, in his 20s, used to work for Foxconn in Shenzhen. He signed onto the Zhengzhou job believing the Covid outbreak was under control. After he was bussed here last week, he was locked up in an 8-person quarantine room.
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Viola Zhou

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He said most meals were composed of potato and cabbage. Deliveries were banned. Trash piled up in the hallway. They heard Covid patients and non-patients were mixed together on the assembly lines.

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Viola Zhou

@violazhouyi
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They are also frustrated with changes in contract: originally they were promised 6,000 yuan bonus for working two months, he said, but now management said workers must stay till March. “If we catch Covid and are thrown into quarantine, we wouldn’t get the money.”

[sharon sanders]

Please see:

China Locks Down Almost 1 Million People Near iPhone Factory in Zhengzhou, Henan province - October 16, 2022

[Mary Wilson]

Foxconn offers US$1,400 to new hires to leave Zhengzhou factory after violent protests over benefits and Covid-19 controls

Published: 12:01am, 24 Nov, 2022
Coco Feng in Beijing

... Newly-hired workers at the iPhone production unit of Foxconn will receive 8,000 yuan if they tender their resignation immediately

https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3200770/foxconn-offers-us1400-new-hires-leave-zhengzhou-factory-after-violent-protests-over-benefits-and

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.yahoo.com/now/violent-pr...034805561.html

Violent Protests Erupt at Apple’s Main iPhone Plant in China
Bloomberg News
Wed, November 23, 2022 at 4:38 AM·5 min read

(Bloomberg) -- Hundreds of workers at Apple Inc.’s main iPhone-making plant in China clashed with security personnel, as tensions boiled over after almost a month under tough restrictions intended to quash a Covid outbreak.

Workers at the Foxconn Technology Group plant streamed out of dormitories in the early hours of Wednesday, jostling and pushing past the white-clad guards they vastly outnumbered, according to videos sent by a witness to portions of the protest. Several white-suited people pummeled a person lying on the ground with sticks in another clip. Onlookers yelled “fight, fight!” as throngs of people forced their way past barricades. At one point, several surrounded an occupied police car and began rocking the vehicle while screaming incoherently.

The protest started overnight over unpaid wages and fears of spreading infection, according to the witness, asking to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions. Several workers were injured and anti-riot police arrived on the scene Wednesday to restore order, the person added.

In one video, irate workers surrounded a silent, downcast manager in a conference room to voice grievances and question their Covid test results. It wasn’t clear when the meeting took place.

“I’m really scared about this place, we all could be Covid positive now,” a male worker said. “You are sending us to death,” another person said.

The Zhengzhou campus was operating normally as of Wednesday evening, a Foxconn spokesperson said. The violence had erupted after a portion of recently arrived employees raised complaints about “work subsidies” -- bonuses or payments on top of usual wages, Foxconn said in a statement. But the company stressed that it handles all such compensation in strict accordance with its contractual obligations.

“With regards to the violence, we are continuing to communicate with workers and the government, to avoid a recurrence,” the company said without elaborating.

The rare instances of violence at the plant in the central city of Zhengzhou reflects a build-up of tensions since the lockdown began in October. Many among the vast workforce of more than 200,000 at “iPhone City” have been plunged into isolation, forced to subsist on spartan meals and scrounge for medication.

Many eventually fled the plant on foot last month. Foxconn and the local government appeared to have gotten the situation under control in recent weeks, promising unusually high wages to attract new staff and promising better working conditions.

Wednesday morning’s protests suggest that is no longer the case. It underscores how Xi Jinping’s Covid Zero policy, which relies on swift lockdowns to stamp out the disease wherever it pops up, is increasingly weighing on the economy and throwing swathes of the global supply chain into disarray. Beijing recently issued new directives ordering officials to minimize disruption and use more targeted Covid controls, but surging outbreaks in major cities have forced local authorities to reach for strict curbs again...