iPhone Production In China Suspended After 2,000 Factory Workers Get Into Brawl

iPhone Production In China Suspended After 2,000 Factory Workers Get Into Brawl

40 people injured and an assortment of people arrested after factory workers get into huge fight in China…

Via NBC News:

The company that makes Apple’s iPhones suspended production at a factory in China on Monday after a brawl by as many as 2,000 employees at a dormitory injured 40 people. The fight erupted Sunday night at a privately managed dormitory near a Foxconn Technology Group factory in the northern city of Taiyuan, the company and Chinese police said. A police statement reported by the official Xinhua News Agency said 5,000 officers were dispatched to the scene.

The Taiyuan plant, which employs about 79,000 workers, makes automobile electronic components, consumer electronic components and precision moldings. An employee told Reuters the plant also makes parts and assembles Apple’s iPhone 5. In a statement, Foxconn cited police as saying about 40 people were taken to hospital for medical attention and a number were arrested.

The company said the incident escalated from what it called a personal dispute between several employees at around 11 p.m. local time (11 a.m. ET) on Sunday. It was brought under control by local police at around 3 a.m. “The cause of this dispute is under investigation by local authorities and we are working closely with them in this process, but it appears not to have been work-related,” Foxconn said. “The plant is closed today for investigation,” Foxconn spokesman Louis Woo said.

Foxconn, the trading name of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co and the world’s largest contract maker of electronic goods, has seen a few violent disputes at its sprawling plants in China, where it employs a total of about 1 million workers. Foxconn also assembles products for Microsoft Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. It is one of China’s biggest employers.

SMH.