Report: Dozens Arrested After Riot at Foxconn (Apple) Factory in China
By Angela Moscaritolo June 6, 2012 10:24am EST

Dozens of workers at a Foxconn plant in Chengdu, China were arrested this week after a clash with security staff, according to a report.

Taiwan-based Want China Times (WCT) reported that the clash broke out Monday night at a male dormitory for Foxconn workers. Security guards had attempted to stop a thief, when several employees with grudges against the officers forced them away.

The situation rapidly escalated, and up to 1,000 workers eventually joined in, WCT reported. Workers threw trash bins, chairs, pots, bottles, and even fireworks from the upper floors of the building, destroying public facilitates.

The riot ended after two hours, after dorm administrators reported the case to local police and hundreds of officers arrived at the scene to suppress the violence. Dozens were arrested.

Foxconn, the world's largest electronic contract manufacturer, employs up to 120,000 people at its plant in Chengdu, located in southwestern China. The factory mainly produces liquid crystal displays for electronic products such as Apple's iPhone.

Foxconn has repeatedly come under fire for harsh working conditions. Late last month, a watchdog group released a study that criticized Foxconn for limited freedoms, inhumane treatment, and unsafe working conditions, among other things. An earlier Apple-commissioned report from the Fair Labor Association found abuses at Foxconn facilities, but said that the firm had agreed to make changes.

ABC's Nightline also gained access to a Foxconn factory recently, and did not uncover any particularly shocking conditions, while This American Life was forced to retract a controversial episode about Apple factories in China that featured storyteller Mike Daisey. An explosion at the Chengdu factory last year killed two workers and injured 16 others.




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