A riot broke out yesterday at a facility owned and operated by Foxconn, a Taiwanese company that manufacturers components of many leading technology companies including Microsoft and Apple.
According reports found by Engadget, the riot began after guards began striking an employee at the company"s Taiyuan, China, facility. Foxconn, however, told Reuters that the incident was the result of a fight between employees. More than 1,000 people are believed to have been involved in the riot, and the company said 40 people were injured in the incident, although no deaths were reported despite previous news reports to the contrary. The Taiyuan facility employs 79,000 individuals.
The New York Times reports Foxconn has closed the facility following the riot. Reports from Chinese state-run media outlets said 5,000 police officers were brought in to halt the riot, which a Foxconn employee told the newspaper began after "workers started brawling with security guards." Foxconn officials said multiple employees were arrested following the incident.
In June, a riot took place that resulted in the arrests of dozens of employees.
Yesterday"s riot is the latest incident in a long string of high-profile events regarding Foxconn"s workers. Media reports began questioning the working conditions at Foxconn facilities after multiple Foxconn employees leapt to their deaths in 2010. Those reports eventually led Apple CEO Tim Cook to personally visit one of Foxconn"s plants in March.
Earlier this year, the chairman of Hon Hai, Foxconn"s parent company, compared the company"s employees to animals, saying "Hon Hai has a workforce of over one million worldwide and as human beings are also animals, to manage one million animals gives me a headache."
Sources: Engadget, The New York Times