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Foxconn denies Chinese factories affected by strike, says iPhone production continuing as normal

Foxconn denies Chinese factories affected by strike, says iPhone production continuing as normal

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Foxconn
Foxconn

Foxconn has issued a statement to Reuters calling reports of a strike at its factory in Zhengzhou, China "inaccurate." The reports, which originated from New York-based China Labor Watch, stated that between 3,000 and 4,000 workers went on strike on Friday because of issues with quality control policies and being forced to work through national holidays. China Labor Watch also said that "multiple iPhone 5 production lines from various factory buildings were in a state of paralysis for the entire day."

"Any reports that there has been an employee strike are inaccurate."

According to Foxconn, the plant in question was subject to "two brief and small disputes" on October 1st and 2nd. Apparently, "any reports that there has been an employee strike are inaccurate" and iPhone production is running on schedule "at an important time for Apple." Finally, it says that workers on shift over China's National Day were there voluntarily and were paid, as demanded by law, three times their usual wages.

Muddying the waters further, Reuters reports that the state-sponsored Xinhua News Agency cites a government spokesperson as saying that 100 quality inspectors at Foxconn refused to work for an hour on Friday after a colleague was allegedly beaten by workers "irate" over tightened quality control standards. The unnamed official said that "the instruction to strengthen quality inspections for the iPhone 5 was given by Apple Inc. following multiple complaints from customers regarding aesthetic flaws in the phone." There appears to be a great deal of contradiction between China Labor Watch, Foxconn, and Xinhua's accounts of events, but we'll keep you updated as and when we hear more.