A fight broke out at a plant operated by Foxconn, which assembles products for Apple and other tech firms, that started as an argument before escalating into a free-for-all brawl that involved 2000 workers and left around 40 people injured, its parent company says.
The Incident
The incident happened around 11pm local time on Sunday in a privately-managed dormitory for Foxconn workers at a factory in Taiyuan in northern China, Hon Hai said in a statement.
How It Started
It said the incident started “as a personal dispute between several employees” and that local police brought the situation under control around 3am
today.
“The cause of this dispute is under investigation by local authorities and we are working closely with them in this process but it appears not to have been work-related,” it said.
Hon Hai spokesman Simon Hsing told AFP today he could not confirm if the Taiyuan facility was shut in the wake of the brawl.
Plant Closed
But a staff member said he was told the plant could be closed up to two to three days for police investigations.
“There are a lot of police at the site now,” the staff member told Reuters by telephone.
He said the plant assemble Apple’s iPhone 5.
The Taiyuan plant employs 79,000 workers and manufactures automobile electronic components, consumer electronic components and precision moldings.
Who is Foxxconn?
Foxconn is the world’s largest maker of computer components and assembles products for Apple, Sony and Nokia.
Foxconn employs about one million workers in China, roughly half of them based in its main facility in Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong.
Poor Working Conditions
The company has come under the spotlight after suicides and labour unrest at its Chinese plants since 2010, which activists have blamed on tough working conditions.
In June, about 100 workers went on a rampage at a Chengdu plant in southwestern China, amid allegations of poor conditions and mistreatment of workers.
