Violence erupted at Apple's biggest iPhone plant in China this week. It comes after thousands of staff walked out last month over complaints about unsafe conditions which Apple warned would lead to delays of iPhone 14 deliveries.
Footage shared on social media shows police in white protective suits kicking and clubbing workers as they protested over wages at the factory in Zhengzhou.
Employees were promised higher pay to attract them to work at the site which is currently under coronavirus restrictions. But after they arrived, they were told they had to work an additional two months at lower pay to received the higher wage.
Foxconn Technology Group has since apologised for the "technical error" that lead to the protest and say staff will be receiving the wages they were promised.
The firm said: “We apologise for an input error in the computer system and guarantee that the actual pay is the same as agreed and the official recruitment posters.” It promised to “try its best to actively solve the concerns and reasonable demands of employees”.
The violence comes as millions of people in China are locked down in a “war of annihilation" against coronavirus. Strict restrictions are still in place in the country, with residents of eight districts in Zhengzhou ordered to stay home for five days from today (Thursday) except to get food or medical treatment.
The ruling Communist Party wants to try and contain the surge in covid cases without shutting down factories, as it did at the start of the pandemic. Its tactics include “closed-loop management” – meaning, employees live at their workplaces without outside contact.
Foxconn, headquartered in New Taipei City, Taiwan, earlier denied what it said were comments online that employees with the virus lived in factory dormitories.
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