People visit the booth of TCL at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the United States, Jan. 9, 2018. The show kicked off here Tuesday. (Xinhua/Li Ying)
Chinese electronics company TCL's CSOT panel manufacturing facility in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province, has been under fire on Tuesday after media reports claimed the factory maintained operations at full capacity despite a confirmed coronavirus case and dozens of febrile workers.
The situation has generated a buzz on Chinese social media platforms, where netizens doubt whether a Wuhan company should prioritize its global supply and its economic interests over employee safety.
Documents circulating online showed that as of 8 pm on Saturday, one worker at the Wuhan plant had been confirmed infected, and the firm had sent a total of 263 employees with fevers or coughs to hospitals. Now 45 workers are being quarantined in dormitories.
Despite the potential spread of virus, employees at the CSOT factory are required to work extra hours and in high intensity conditions to maintain the panel production line's operation, according to media reports. CSOT is also a major supplier for Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi.
Some employees complained that the workload is twice as much as usual, whilst the supplies of living materials and food are not abundant.
"We have reached both our physical and psychological limits," an unnamed frontline engineer said, noting that chances of being infected could jump if an individual is tired and working in a closed area for an extended period of time.
TCL told the Global Times that it is investigating the matter and will publicize its results later.
TCL Chairman Li Dongsheng said on his Weibo account on February 12 that 7,000 workers, led by key executives, were at their posts in the CSOT Wuhan factory.
"The display panels made in the Wuhan factory account for 20 percent of global supplies. If production is halted, that would deal a blow to the global industrial chain," Li said, stressing that no infection had been reported at the factory.
From the beginning of 2020 to February 11, its Wuhan T3 panel production line has been running at full capacity, with an output of 50,000 units a month, TCL said in an earlier statement.
TCL's controversial move has ignited anger among some Chinese netizens, who criticize the company's hardline approach, saying it sacrifices employees' health in exchange for economic gains. Some have called for a sweeping investigation.
The discussion underscores an ongoing debate in China, where some have been calling for a gradual resumption of work to mitigate fallout from the epidemic, while others say that such move would lead to the breakout of more infections.
A chip industry insider told the Global Times that if panel production lines are suspended, it would mean huge damage for production machines that usually cost millions of yuan.
"It is understandable that panel-makers want to contain such losses. But they need to work out a balance. They could consider running production lines at half or even lower capacity to protect their employees," the insider said.
Global Times