Hong Kong
CNN business
—
Foxconn has offered to pay newly hired workers 10,000 yuan ($1,400) to quit and leave the world’s largest iPhone assembly plant to quell protests that have seen hundreds of workers at the central China facility clashed with security forces.
The Apple supplier made the offer Wednesday after dramatic scenes of violent protests at its campus in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, in a text message sent to workers by its human resources department.
In the message, seen by CNN, the company asked workers to “please return to their dormitories,” and promised to pay them 8,000 yuan after they agreed to quit and another 2,000 yuan after they boarded departing buses.
The protest erupted on Tuesday night over the terms of the new hires’ pay packages and in relation to Covid concerns about their living conditions. Scenes became increasingly violent on Wednesday as workers clashed with large numbers of workers by security forces, including SWAT team officers.
Videos circulating on social media showed groups of law enforcement officers in hazmat suits kicking and hitting protesters with batons and metal bars. Some workers were seen tearing down fences, throwing bottles and barricades at officers, and smashing and overturning police vehicles.
The protest largely ended around 10 p.m. Wednesday, when workers returned to their dormitories after receiving Foxconn’s offer of payment and fearing tougher action from authorities, a witness told CNN.
The Zhengzhou plant was hit by a Covid outbreak in October, forcing it to close and leading to a mass exodus of workers fleeing the outbreak. Foxconn later launched a massive recruitment campaign, with more than 100,000 people signing up for the advertised positions, Chinese state media reported.
According to a document setting out the salary package of new hires seen by CNN, workers were promised a bonus of 3,000 yuan after 30 days on the job, with an additional 3,000 yuan to be paid after a total of 60 days.
However, according to a worker, once the new employees arrived at the plant, they were told by Foxconn that they would not receive the first bonus until March 15 and the second installment in May – meaning they will have to work until the Lunar New Year. which starts in January 2023 to receive the first bonus payments.
“The new recruits had to work more days to get the promised bonus, so they felt cheated,” the worker told CNN.
In a statement Thursday, Foxconn said it understands the new recruits’ concerns about “possible changes in the subsidy policy,” which it attributed to “a technical error(s) during the onboarding process.”
“We apologize for an input error in the IT system and guarantee that the actual payment corresponds to that agreed,” it said.
Foxconn communicated with employees, reassuring them that salaries and bonuses would be paid “in accordance with company policies,” it said.
Apple, for which Foxconn makes a number of products, told CNN Business that its employees are on site at the Zhengzhou facility.
“We are reviewing the situation and working closely with Foxconn to ensure their employees’ concerns are addressed,” it said in a statement.
As of Thursday morning, some workers who agreed to leave received the first part of the payment, a worker said on a livestream showing workers queuing outside to do Covid tests while waiting for departing buses. Later in the day, livestreams showed long lines of workers boarding buses.
The protest began Tuesday night outside workers’ dormitories on the sprawling Foxconn campus, with hundreds of protest marches and slogans including “Down with Foxconn,” according to social media videos and a witness account. Videos showed workers clashed with security forces and fought off tear gas fired by police.
The standoff lasted until Wednesday morning. The situation quickly escalated when large numbers of security forces, most dressed in white hazmat suits and some carrying shields and batons, were dispatched to the scene. Videos showed columns of police vehicles, some marked “SWAT,” arriving at the campus, which is typically home to about 200,000 workers.
Other workers joined the protest after watching live streams on video platforms Kuaishou and Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, the worker told CNN. Many live streams have been shortened or censored. Online searches for “Foxconn” in Chinese have been restricted.
Some protesters marched to the main gate of the manufacturing plant’s compound, which is in a separate area from workers’ dormitories, to block assembly work, the worker said.
Other protesters took the further step of breaking into the manufacturing site. According to the worker, they smashed Covid test booths, glass doors and billboards in restaurants in the production area.
After working at the Zhengzhou plant for six years, he said he is now deeply disappointed in Foxconn and plans to quit. With a monthly base salary of 2,300 yuan, he makes between 4,000 and 5,000 yuan a month, including overtime, and works 10 hours a day, seven days a week during the pandemic.
“Foxconn is a Taiwanese company,” he said. “Not only has it not spread Taiwan’s values of democracy and freedom to the mainland, it has been assimilated by the Chinese Communist Party and has become so cruel and inhumane. I am very sad about that.”
Although he was not among the new recruits, he protested in support with them, adding, “If today I remain silent about the suffering of others, who will speak for me tomorrow?”
