Post date: Oct 08, 2012 4:14:2 PM
Apple's iPhone5 - linked to labor unrest in China.
Now a second dispute at another factory here in the central province of Henan that is going full speed in pumping out iPhone 5s.
Both factories are run by Foxconn, a Taiwanese electronics giant that assembles most of the world's iPads and iphones.REUTERS REPORTER, JANE LANHEE LEE, SAID:
"I'm here at the Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou, where there was reportedly a strike over the weekend, although from what workers have told us, it's unclear whether if it was a strike or a smaller worker dispute. But one thing is clear, tensions here are high."
Mr. Zhu who has only been working here less than a month is getting ready to quit.
FOXCONN WORKER, MR. ZHU, SAID:
"The managers talk down to us and the pressure on the assembly line is too high."
But others we met here seem to appreciate the work.
26-year-old Mr. Wang.
FOXCONN WORKER, MR. WANG, SAID:
"The salary here is relatively higher. The base salary in Zhengzhou is 1350 yuan and here it's 1800. So the difference is obvious."
China Labour Bulletin's Geoffrey Crothall.
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, CHINA LABOUR BULLETIN,GEOFFREY CROTHALL, SAID:
"Maybe Foxconn is a little bit better, but the wages they provide are nowhere near a living wage. Workers still have to struggle very hard to make a living, and you know, they're still working 10, 12 hours a day under quite oppressive and stringent conditions, and that's why you see these disputes cropping up time and time again."
For now Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory seems to be operating normally. But given the production pressures it faces and the massive scale of its China facilities, no one's ruling out further trouble.