Asian Labour Review

​ Foxconn Zhengzhou workers protest over delayed bonuses

Resolved Incident

Foxconn Zhengzhou workers protest over delayed bonuses

Zhengzhou, Henan, China (city) China Electronics Demonstration

View on map Part of: Foxconn Zhengzhou worker protests, 2022

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On 23 November 2022 hundreds of workers at Foxconn's Zhengzhou campus, the largest iPhone assembly site, protested against delayed bonus payments and against being required to share dormitories with colleagues who had tested positive for Covid-19. Video showed crowds marching, pulling down quarantine barriers and clashing with hazmat-suited staff and riot police, with tear gas and water cannon used. Foxconn said it had fulfilled its payment contracts and would work with employees and the government to prevent further violence, and it offered newly recruited workers 10,000 yuan to leave. The unrest followed weeks of disruption at the plant over zero-Covid controls and pay.

Workers involved
Unknown
Outcome
Unknown – Foxconn denied owing the disputed bonuses and said it had fulfilled its payment contracts, so no source shows the pay demand being conceded. RFA, the BBC and CNN report that workers were beaten and detained; CNN reports Foxconn offered newly recruited workers 10,000 yuan to quit, and no formal settlement is recorded. Crowd size is only an order of magnitude (hundreds, per RFA, BBC and CNN), so the worker count is left blank rather than guessed.
Issues
OSH / Safety, Violence / Repression, Wage Arrears

Sources