Taiwan's Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) apologized on Thursday for a technical error that led to cuts in employees' subsidies, which triggered mass protests at the world's largest iPhone plant in the city of Zhengzhou in China's central Henan province
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th November, 2022) Taiwan's Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) apologized on Thursday for a technical error that led to cuts in employees' subsidies, which triggered mass protests at the world's largest iPhone plant in the city of Zhengzhou in China's central Henan province.
On Wednesday, media reported that hundreds of workers at Foxconn's iPhone plant in Zhengzhou staged protests over the fact that the received payments did not correspond to what they were offered when hired.
"We fully understand the concerns of some newly recruited employees in the Zhengzhou Park about possible changes in the subsidy policy. Our team has been looking into the matter and discovered a technical error occurred during the process. We apologize for an input error in the computer system and pledge that the actual pay is the same as prior agreed upon in official recruitment posters," Foxconn said in the statement seen by Global Times.
In addition, the company said it would respect the decision of employees who want to return to their hometowns, providing them with corresponding subsidies.
Regarding the protests, the company will continue to communicate with employees and authorities to prevent such incidents from happening again, the statement read.
Earlier in the month, media reported that Foxconn strengthened its search for staff in order to fully restore production, and thus increased hourly wages from 23-25 Yuan ($3.2-3.5) to 30 yuan.
Since mid-October, the Foxconn plant has created a so-called bubble on its territory, tightening measures to combat COVID-19 and banning employees from leaving the site. Two weeks later, workers started to complain about the insufficient amount of food and medicine inside the bubble, with the company's management denying such information. At the moment, it is not known how many staff left the plant in recent weeks.
China has adhered to a zero tolerance policy for COVID-19 almost from the very beginning of the pandemic, and Chinese anti-epidemiological control remains one of the strictest in the world.
