2,000 in staff riot at iPhone's Chinese 'sweatshop' factory after 'guard beats up worker'

Riot at factory in northern China started at 11pm and lasted four hours

A total of 50 police officers were called in to bring riot under control

In March factory workers went on strike over pay and working conditions

A riot involving 2,000 workers broke out at an Apple factory in China, leaving 40 people injured.



More than 5,000 police were reportedly sent to bring the riot at the Foxconn factory in the northern city of Taiyuan in the Shanxi province of China until control after trouble erupted in workers' sleeping quarters yesterday.

Comments on Chinese internet bulletin boards said the trouble may have been sparked by a security guard hitting an employee and not related to the recent anti-Japan protests.

In a statement, the Taiwanese-owned company said: 'A personal dispute between several employees escalated into an incident involving some 2,000 workers at approximately 11pm last night in a privately-managed dormitory.'

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Rubbish lines the road and a broken window can be seen in the background during the riots at the Foxconn factory in northern China which lasted for four hours Around 2,000 workers at the Foxconn factory in the northern Chinese city of Taiyuan were involved in a mass brawl last night and 40 people were taken to hospital

The rioting at the factory which employs 79,000 workers continued for four hours, with 40 people being taken to hospital and a 'number of individuals being arrested'.

Production at the plant has been stopped today and the cause of the dispute is being investigated by local authorities. The company spokesman added 'it does not appear to have been work-related'.

Foxconn makes iPhones and iPads for Apple and also assembles products for Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard. It is one of China's biggest employers, with some 1.2 million workers in factories in Taiyuan, the southern city of Shenzhen, in Chengdu in the west and in Zhengzhou in central China.

Photos uploaded by Li Tian to the Chinese site Sina Weibe were swiftly removed, but they show considerable damage including a burned vehicle, broken windows and lines of police with riot shields, helmets and clubs.

Members of the military appear opposite the protesters on the streets outside the factor

A total of 5,000 police officers were called in to try and regain control of the situation

Fences appear to have been pulled down and manufacturing equipment broken during the riot The rioting at the factory which employs 79,000 workers continued for four hours, with 40 people being taken to hospital and a 'number of individuals being arrested'

The incident happened in the city of Taiyuan in the north of China, situated to the south-west of Beijing

This is the second time in the last six months the site has seen workers unrest at the site. In March front-line workers went on strike after they failed to receive the promised pay rise.

Apple hired an auditor who found Foxconn employees regularly were required to work more than 60 hours a week. The company raised minimum pay and promised to limit hours.



There was a riot at Foxconn's Chengdu plant in June, which according to reports was due to an argument between some workers and a local restaurant owner.

Last night's rioting in the Taiyuan factory comes 11 days after an undercover journalist for the Shanghai Evening Post strongly criticised working conditions at the plant where 57million iPhones are produced every year.

The journalist, who is keeping his identity secret, kept a diary of his ten day and website micgadget translated it.

Comments on Chinese internet bulletin boards said the trouble may have been sparked by a security guard hitting an employee and not related to the recent anti-Japan protests Foxconn, which produces the iPhone 5, says it has closed down production today after windows were broken, cars were burned and 5,000 police officers had to be called in Referring to living conditions at the dormitory next to the plant he wrote: ' 'The first night sleeping at Foxconn dormitory is a nightmare.

'The whole dormitory smells like garbage when I walked in.

'It’s a mixed of overnight garbage smell plus dirty sweat and foam smell.

'Outside every room was fully piled up with uncleared trash.

'When I opened my wardrobe, lots of cockroaches crawl out from inside and the bedsheets that are being distributed to every new workers are full of dirts and ashes.

'When someone has asked about the suicide issues, the management staff didn’t avoid the topic but not willing to discuss too much on it.

'During the suicide topic discussion, someone has voiced out that the bad living environment will sure lead to more suicides.

An investigation has been launched to find out what triggered the riot, it follows a strike at the factory in March over pay and working hours

'Also I have noticed that all the windows in the dormitory has been framed behind bars.'

Describing the relentless production-line work he was asked to carry out the journalist added:



'I have terrible neck-ache and muscle pain on my arm. A new worker who sat opposite of me got exhausted and laid down for a short while.

'The supervisor has noticed him and punished him by asking him to stand at one corner for 10 minutes like the old school days.



'We worked non-stop from midnight to the next morning 6 a.m but were still asked to keep on working as the production line is based on running belt and no one is allowed to stop. I’m so starving and fully exhausted.

'By my own calculations, I have to mark five iPhone plates every minute, at least. For every 10 hours, I have to accomplish 3,000 iPhone 5 back plates.





VIDEO: Clean up operation begins following riot at iPhone 'sweatshop'