Foxconn denies China iPhone plant hit by strike

TAIPEI/SAN FRANCISCO (REUTERS) - Foxconn, the Taiwanese made-to-order electronics giant that assembles Apple's products, denied reports that a plant in China was crippled by a strike, saying on Saturday that its production is on schedule at an important time for Apple.

The report of a strike issued by China Labour Watch, a New York-based advocacy group, came weeks after Apple kicked off its largest-ever global rollout for the new iPhone 5 smartphone.

The labour group said 3,000 to 4,000 workers protested at Foxconn's Zhengzhou complex in central China's Henan province on Friday afternoon, angered by over-exacting quality controls - which workers said they could not meet without more training - as well as demands they work through the week-long National Day holidays, which began on Monday.

But Foxconn Technology Group denied the report and said the plant suffered only two brief and small disputes several days earlier.