Foxconn workers quit amid zero-COVID policy

Thousands of employees at Foxconn's flagship iPhone plant in China have quit since October, as the major Apple supplier battles the latest labor unrest that began in late October due to strict zero-COVID policy.

The events taking place at Foxconn's production facility are highly undesirable for workplace health, safety and general wellbeing, and harmony perspectives. In these times of unrest, Apple needs to strengthen its dialogue with Foxconn management, and if possible Chinese authorities, to communicate in strong terms what its policy expectations are around labour rights, and find solutions to stabilise the situation. Foxconn is bound to follow Chinese government orders regarding COVID lockdowns. The company does not go beyond the government requirements in order to respect people's rights and not take unnecessary measures, because it leads to unnecessarily harsh measures. The situation at Foxconn is concerning. We note the role that Foxconn plays as a subcontractor to Apple. As a first step, we contacted Apple to understand how management views and what measures they are taking. This shows the importance of labour standards in the supply chain. We expect Apple as one of the main buyers to reassert its influence at Foxconn. According to our findings, Foxconn is in a better position compared to other factories in China because of the improved situation at Foxconn with regard to labour standards.

There is still a lot of room for improvement in an international comparison. We see that a very risky situation because of the extreme dependence of Apple on China, both as a consumer market and as its place of primary manufacturing.