MNN - Mother Nature Network

BEIJING — A Foxconn factory making the iPhone 5 in northern China reopened on Sept. 25, a manager said, a day after it shut down following a huge workers' brawl that took 5,000 police several hours to quell.

 

Foxconn — the world's largest maker of computer components — assembles products for Apple, Sony and Nokia among others and employs one million people in China.

 

A total of 40 men in Taiyuan in Shanxi province suffered injuries after a "personal dispute between several employees" escalated into a 2,000-person fight in a dormitory, Foxconn's Taiwanese parent company Hon Hai said in a statement.

 

But on Sept. 25 a company manager surnamed Yang told AFP that the "Foxconn plant in Taiyuan has reopened," adding that the products it makes include Apple's latest smartphone.

 

The scuffle began late on the night of Sept. 23 between workers from two different provinces, and drew 10,000 spectators, China's state-run Xinhua news agency said, citing local security officials.

 

Photos purportedly of the melee posted online showed crowds of workers, a building with shattered windows and an overturned police car, though the authenticity of the images could not be verified.

 

The electronics giant has been criticized over labor conditions after a series of workers committed suicide in the past two years.

 

In 2010, at least 13 Foxconn employees in China died in apparent suicides, which activists blamed on difficult working conditions.

 

The Taiyuan plant employs 79,000 workers and makes automobile electronic components, consumer electronic components and precision moldings.

 

Copyright 2012  AFP Global Edition