Stick-wielding men smash surveillance cameras at China iPhone plant - Reuters

SHANGHAI, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Men wielding sticks smashed surveillance cameras and windows astatine a monolithic field owned by Apple (AAPL.O) supplier Foxconn (2317.TW) successful the Chinese metropolis of Zhengzhou, scenes broadcast unrecorded connected the Kuaishou abbreviated video level showed connected Wednesday.

Hundreds of workers protested astatine the campus, location to the world's largest iPhone factory, wherever galore chanted "give america our pay". They were surrounded by radical successful afloat hazmat suits, immoderate carrying batons.

The images, which could not instantly beryllium verified by Reuters, travel aft weeks of turmoil which person seen scores of employees fly the mill implicit COVID-19 controls.

Many erstwhile workers person spoken of nutrient shortages and rigid quarantine rules, and Foxconn has had to connection incentives including bonuses to clasp oregon lure workers. work much

Multiple radical said connected the livestream feeds they were protesting aft being informed this week that they would person their bonuses aboriginal than initially promised.

"Foxconn ne'er treats humans arsenic humans," said 1 idiosyncratic successful societal media footage of the scenes.

Two sources with cognition of the substance said determination were protests astatine the Zhengzhou field but declined to supply much details.

Foxconn and Apple did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

As of 0515 GMT, astir of the footage had been taken down. Kuaishou did not respond to a petition for comment.

Some videos showed radical pulling down barriers acceptable up to quarantine areas arsenic portion of China's zero-COVID policy, oregon arguing with the hazmat-suited personnel.

Other videos showed workers complaining astir the nutrient they had been provided with portion successful quarantine oregon complaining that determination were inadequate curbs successful spot to incorporate an outbreak.

Relentless controls and spot lockdowns crossed China person fuelled discontent crossed the country, hitting economical maturation and escalating concerns implicit planetary proviso chains arsenic companies grapple to support factories moving arsenic unit go infected.

Foxconn has maintained alleged closed-loop operations astatine the works - a strategy successful which unit unrecorded and enactment on-site isolated from the wider satellite - owed to COVID outbreaks successful Zhengzhou.

The curbs and discontent person deed production, prompting Apple to accidental earlier this period that it expected little shipments of premium iPhone 14 models.

Foxconn, formally Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, is Apple's biggest iPhone maker, accounting for 70% of iPhone shipments globally. It makes astir of the phones astatine the Zhengzhou works wherever it employs astir 200,000 people, though it has different smaller accumulation sites successful India and confederate China.

Reporting by Brenda Goh and Beijing Newsroom; Additional reporting by David Kirton successful Shenzhen and Yimou Lee successful Taipei; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Edwina Gibbs

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