Sunday, September 23, 2012

Foxconn temporarily shuts China plant after worker fracas is brought under control - @Bloomberg

Foxconn Technology Group said it decided to close a factory today at Taiyuan in China’s Shanxi province after a fight among workers broke out last night and was brought under control early today.

“We want to give people time to cool down,” Louis Woo, spokesman for Taipei-based Foxconn told Bloomberg News by phone today. The facility employs 79,000 people to make consumer electronics, components, and precision molding for devices including mobile phones, Woo said, declining to confirm whether parts for Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iPhone 5 are made at the facility.

A fight between rival worker groups at a dormitory operated by an outside company broke out at about 11 p.m. last night and escalated to involve as many as 2,000 people before security and policy brought the situation under control by about 3 a.m., Woo said. Some workers were detained by police, he said without giving details.

The fight’s cause was not immediately clear, while Foxconn is assisting a police investigation of the matter, Woo said. Union representatives will be sent to the site today to discuss the situation with workers, he said.

Chairman Terry Gou, who founded the maker of iPhones, Sony Corp. PlayStations and Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) computers in 1974, was briefed on the situation from about 5 a.m. and agreed with management’s decision to shut the factory for the day, Woo said.

Foxconn, whose flagship is Taipei-listed Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., employs more than 1.2 million people globally with most of its workforce in China as well as factories in Brazil, Taiwan, China and Mexico.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tim Culpan in Taipei at tculpan1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Tighe at mtighe4@bloomberg.net.

Enlarge image Foxconn Shuts China Plant After Fight Brought Under Control

Foxconn Shuts China Plant After Fight Brought Under Control

Foxconn Shuts China Plant After Fight Brought Under Control

Foxconn Technology Group employs more than 1.3 million people to make devices for global clients including Apple Inc., Sony Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Cisco Systems Inc.

Foxconn Technology Group employs more than 1.3 million people to make devices for global clients including Apple Inc., Sony Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Cisco Systems Inc. Source: AFP via Getty Images

Enlarge image Foxconn CEO Terry Gou

Foxconn CEO Terry Gou

Foxconn CEO Terry Gou

Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg

Terry Gou, chief executive officer and founder of  Foxconn Technology Group.

Terry Gou, chief executive officer and founder of  Foxconn Technology Group. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg