Fed up with strict COVID-19 lockdown restrictions imposed in Shanghai by the Chinese rulers over the past two months, workers at Quanta, a Taiwanese-owned plant that makes MacBook laptops, have organized protests against the conditions they face. This has included hundreds of workers clashing with factory guards in hazmat suits and jumping across plant barriers to get out and buy basic supplies. China Times reports workers chanted “Down with capitalism.”
Like many other bosses in the city, Quanta has adopted what they call a “closed loop” production system to keep factories going and profits rising during the lockdown. Workers are banned from leaving company property even during off hours and are forced to live and sleep in the factory or crammed into adjacent dormitories. They are forbidden to see other people, including their families.
“People are getting frustrated and tired of these controls,” one worker at the locked-down Apple facility told Bloomberg News. “That’s inevitable, especially when there is no timeline on when all this will end.”
They’re also demanding raises. One worker told Bloomberg they’re paid just $450 per month.
Typical housing conditions for workers at the Quanta plant under the lockdown include packing 12 workers in bunk beds per dorm room.