While the exact cause of a riot at a Chinese Foxconn factory on Sunday night remains under investigation, employees at the Taiyuan facility returned to work on Tuesday after a one-day emergency shutdown. According to the Associated Press, labor groups are saying heightened tensions between workers at the factory and Foxconn elevated because of pressure to meet demand for the new iPhone 5. As of right now, Foxconn did not mention whether or not the one-day suspension of production will affect supplies for the flagship phone.
Reports from Taiyuan about what caused the brawl continue to remain divided as some claim the incident stemmed from a confrontation between a factory worker and a guard while others say it was a fight between workers from different production lines. One employee who spoke with the AP said the violence arose because of employee anger over alleged mistreatment by Foxconn guards and managers. The anonymous worker said the following: “Foxconn, some supervisors, and security guards never respect us. We all have this anger toward them and (the workers) wanted to destroy things to release this anger.”
The brawl took place Sunday and involved 2,000 employees with a total of 40 people being reported as injured. Foxconn issued a statement on Monday to say there were no employee deaths and that production would resume this week. It hasn’t been made certain whether the iPhone 5 is being built at the factory in question or not.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
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