The world’s largest iPhone factory in China on Tuesday promised quadruple bonuses to employees who agree to stay despite a lockdown linked to Covid cases. Located in the city of Zhengzhou (downtown), the factory, managed by the Taiwanese group Foxconn, employs more than 200,000 people. It has been confined since mid-October after the detection of an outbreak of coronavirus cases.
But employee complaints about their working conditions and lack of protection against the virus have been shared on social media. Des vidéos circulant sur ces mêmes réseaux ce week-end ont montré des dizaines de salariés, certains portant des valises, en train de s’enfuir du site en grimpant par-dessus le grillage puis en marchant le long de la route pour rentrer chez eux walking.
Premium and bonuses
On Tuesday, the company announced on its official account on the Chinese social network WeChat that it would pay a daily bonus of 400 yuan (about 55 euros) per day of work, four times the usual amount. The staff will also receive an additional bonus in case of presence in the factory for at least 15 days in November, a bonus of up to 15,000 yuan (2,075 euros) in case of presence throughout the month.
Foxconn, whose Zhengzhou factory is the largest iPhone manufacturer in the world for the US group Apple, said it was facing a “long battle” against the detected covid outbreak, without specifying the number of confined employees. The company claims to “cooperate with the government to organize staff and vehicles” and allow employees to leave if they wish.
Local authorities have asked fleeing employees to register upon arrival and then observe a multi-day quarantine at home. The number of Covid cases in China, although low, is on the rise, with more than 2,000 new cases announced in the territory on Tuesday, for the second day in a row.
China is the latest major economy to implement a Covid-zero policy, which translates into repeated lockdowns, almost mandatory PCR tests several times a week, and the quarantining of people from risk areas.
The semi-autonomous territory of Macau announced a large-scale test on its 680,000 inhabitants on Tuesday after the discovery of a handful of cases, which led to the confinement of one of its casinos.
Source: BFM TV
