On Wednesday hundreds of workers joined protests at Foxconn’s flagship iPhone factory plant in China, amid the unrest related to overly harsh COVID-19 restrictions.
Thousands have reportedly fled the factory campus. To retain staff and lure new workers, Foxconn has had to offer bonuses and higher salaries.
Following is the timeline of the problems at the world’s largest iPhone plant, located in Zhengzhou, China:
October 13: Amid rising COVID-19 cases in Zhengzhou, Foxconn puts the plant’s 200,000 workers under closed-loop management – a system where staff live and work on-site isolated from the wider world.
October 21: Foxconn tightens COVID-19 restrictions at the plant but says production remains normal.
October 30: Migrant workers have begun to flee the plant’s campus and return to their hometowns. Cities in central China hastily draw up plans to isolate them, fearing they could trigger COVID outbreaks.
October 31: Production of Apple Inc’s iPhones could slump by as much as 30% at the plant in November due to the tighter COVID restrictions.
November 1: Foxconn says it has quadrupled bonuses on offer for workers at the plant as it seeks to quell discontent over the COVID restrictions and retain staff.
November 2: China orders the industrial park in Zhengzhou that houses the Foxconn factory to enter a seven-day lockdown.
November 7: Apple says it expects lower shipments of premium iPhone 14 models than previously anticipated following a significant production cut at the Zhengzhou plant, dampening its sales outlook for the busy year-end holiday season.
November 9: The Zhengzhou plant continues to isolate its operations and staff despite the lift of a seven-day lockdown for the rest of the industrial park in which it is located.
November 10, Foxconn says it expects smartphone revenue to fall in the fourth quarter and is adjusting production to prevent recent COVID restrictions in Zhengzhou from impacting holiday orders.
November 23: Footage on social media of the protests show men, wielding sticks, smash surveillance cameras and windows. The trigger for the protests appears to have been a plan to delay bonus payments, many of the demonstrators said on livestream feeds.
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