In this photo provided Nov 23, 2022, protesters face off against security personnel in white protective clothing at the factory compound operated by Foxconn Technology Group who runs the world’s biggest Apple iPhone factory in Zhengzhou in central China's Henan province. The 10,000 yuan incentive, which in general exceeds a month’s wages for Foxconn’s blue-collar staff, is likely to placate some employees who on Nov 23 staged a rare violent protest. — AP
BEIJING: China’s Zhengzhou – the capital of Henan province known as “iPhone City” – relocated 870 workers to a hub about 230 miles away in a neighbouring province, without giving them any advance notice about the measure to curb Covid transmission.
The workers were transported to Xuzhou in Jiangsu province early last Friday “without prior communications,” the city’s authorities said in a statement Saturday on its official WeChat account. It didn’t say whether any of the people tested positive.
Zhengzhou, home to Apple Inc’s largest iPhone manufacturing site, shot to global prominence after videos emerged on social media showing hundreds of workers in violent clashes prompted by anger over unpaid wages and concern over virus infections.
Apple’s main global production partner, Foxconn Technology Group, later began offering 10,000 yuan (US$1,395 or RM6,313) to any worker who chose to leave.
Most of the people have since been transferred to other locations via a so-called closed-loop arrangement, the statement from Xuzhou city said. The rest were placed in another pandemic bubble system that limits contact with the outside world.
The people were all former employees of a “key enterprise” in Zhengzhou’s airport economic zone, it added, without saying which enterprise.
A Foxconn representative didn’t reply to queries out of business hours Saturday. — Bloomberg
