Posted
Chine“Take the money and leave”, the offer to disgruntled iPhone City workers
The world’s largest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou has been the scene of angry workers over a pay cut. A bonus of 10,000 yuan is offered to them, on condition that they leave by bus.
After violent employee protests this week, the world’s largest iPhone factory in China is now offering a new offer to its disgruntled workers: cash to leave the premises immediately. Anger erupted on Wednesday at this industrial site in Zhengzhou, central China. Furious at not having received the bonuses promised to stay working in the factory, confined since October due to an outbreak of Covid-19, the employees faced the police.
Owned by the Taiwanese group Foxconn, the main subcontractor of the American giant Apple, the factory employs more than 200,000 people, most of whom live there year-round, in dormitories. “Suddenly, the contracts changed, and everyone was unhappy,” said an employee on condition of anonymity. “As previous incidents at Foxconn had left no one in trust, the protests broke out.”
Since the first cases of Covid-19 appeared in the factory, Foxconn has had one obsession: to keep iPhone production on schedule as the holiday season approaches. This prompted him to confine the site, in conditions denounced as “chaotic” by employees who were numerous to flee the factory. The company urgently recruited new employees, to whom it dangled juicy bonuses.
Now she seems to be backtracking. Screenshots of an official announcement from Foxconn were circulating on social networks on Thursday, promising employees wishing to leave 10,000 yuan (1,320 francs) to cover their salary, as well as transport and quarantine costs. The announcement stated that these employees would first receive 8,000 yuan and then the remaining 2,000 when boarding chartered buses to return home.
“You can’t ask too much…”
On some of the videos shared, we can see in the background many buses near the dormitories, supposed to bring the employees back to their hometowns. “Everyone has had their money and is about to leave,” according to the employee interviewed by AFP. “I’m pretty happy, you can’t ask too much.”
Foxconn, which issued an apology on Thursday, also appears to want to compensate those beaten by police during the protests, in which dozens of employees were injured. An employee told AFP that injured colleagues had received an additional bonus of 500 yuan (66 francs). Contacted about this, the company has not yet responded.
A video posted Thursday afternoon on the Kuaishou online video platform shows hundreds of employees waiting to get out of dormitories, dragging suitcases behind them. “Take the money and go home,” the caption reads for this video, along with a smiling emoji.
Employees ‘chased’ and ‘beaten’
Video of the protests, filmed and shared by a factory worker, shows a person lying on the ground, next to a man with a bloodstained jacket and a head injury. Another excerpt shows dozens of officers wearing protective suits chasing and beating employees with sticks, one of them being beaten to the ground, including being hit in the head. The employee who shared these videos estimated that around 20 people were injured in the clashes.
According to his account, the protests erupted when the new recruits, who had signed a contract that they would receive 3,000 yuan in bonuses for 30 days of work, suddenly saw that figure reduced to 30 yuan. Foxconn assured Thursday that it was only a “technical error” in its payment system, promising that it would be fixed. On the site, the unrest has now ceased, an employee told AFP. “All new recruits had to leave, now everything is normal.”
(AFP)