Foxconn, the world’s biggest electronics contract manufacturer and Apple supplier, said it was looking into reports that hundreds of its temporary workers took to the streets last week demanding unpaid wages from recruitment agencies.
The rally in Zhengzhou began on Wednesday night till Thursday, before the police intervened. Several of the protesters said online they were beaten by officers, while some were taken into custody.
The protest came just days after a Chinese court ordered a ban on the sale of most iPhone models, in favour of Qualcomm in a long-running patent dispute with Apple.
The workers were recruited by local employment agencies on temporary contracts under the premise that they would receive a 6,000 yuan (US$870) cash bonus if they worked 55 days. But the agencies later backed out on the deal.
Employees on a Contract
The offer of bonuses is a common method for Chinese factory agents to recruit, especially temporary contract labourers and during high demands. However, there are many reports of agents who failed to deliver on their promises of extra payments.
Professor Pun Ngai, a labour rights expert with the University of Hong Kong said,
“Especially in recent years, when the economic environment hasn’t been that great, many companies, including Foxconn, want to save costs so they use agencies to recruit workers,” she said.
“[But] some agencies have many local partners, and in my research, those partners are illegal and are not suitably qualified to arrange proper contracts with workers.”
Under China’s labour regulations, companies are not allowed to recruit temporary workers for primary jobs and they must never exceed 15 per cent of the total workforce. Also, any temporary worker who has served for more than two years is automatically entitled to permanent status.
“But many companies fail to meet these standards,” Ngai said. “Temporary workers are cheap, usually do not receive benefits such as social welfare, and are more flexible. When the company doesn’t need them, they can give them some money and send them off. When there are lots of orders that need to be filled, they recruit more.”
