William Gallagher
Workers at the Quanta factory in Shanghai have clashed with authorities over China's strict coronavirus measures, with hundreds of employees surging over barriers and shoving past security guards.
Quanta is one of the very many Apple suppliers to have been affected by the "zero-tolerance" COVID lockdowns imposed by Chinese authorities since early April. Most recently, the company's Shanghai plant had been reported to be slowly resuming production of the MacBook Pro, and other devices.
According to Bloomberg, tensions at the plant led to a riot once workers tried to return to their dormitories after their shifts on May 5, 2022. They pushed by barriers and also guards wearing white protective gear, who attempted to contain the workers.
A tweet by Radio Free Asia captured some of the rioting.
— (@RFA_Chinese) May 6, 2022
One worker reportedly told local media that workers are worried about the increased lockdown tightening because there are already positive COVID cases at the plant.
Separately, order times for many Apple devices, including the MacBook Pro, have lengthened considerably, as the supply chain is badly affected.
AppleInsider Staff
Malcolm Owen
Oliver Haslam
Andrew O'Hara
Wesley Hilliard
Christine McKee
9 Comments
And so … can we look forward to shorter ship times now?
It’s amazing how ignorant people are about what is happening in the world. The “zero-covid” policy is a measure by China to enact economic sanctions by hiding behind a “health crisis”. They can control worldwide exports of products and cause economic catastrophe in other countries as they see fit by blaming the “virus”. Omicron variant is not severe so this reaction is absurd. We are 2 years into a ten year plan, fasten your seatbelts.
I didn't know MacBook Pro is made in China. I thought it's from Taiwan.