Indian trade union accuses government of targeting Wistron employees involved in violent p...
A prominent Indian trade union has spoken out against the Indian government for its lack of action against iPhone assembly partner Wistron after a violent riot broke out following a protest.
On December 12, nearly all 2,000 employees at Wistron's Narasapura production plant took part in a violent riot against the company. Acts included damaging furniture and assembly units, smashing glass windows of executive offices, and setting fire to vehicles at the location.
According to Reuters, hundreds of the workers have been arrested or detained by police. India's Karnataka government went on record to condemn the violence, vowing to take the "strictest action" against the wrongdoers.
All India Central Council of Trade Unions, a major Indian trade union, spoke out against the state government at a press briefing.
"The state government is going extremely soft on the company and turning a blind eye to all the violations at the facility," said AICCTU's national secretary, Clifton D'Rozario. "They are generating employment that is not paying people - What purpose does such employment serve?"
Workers alleged an engineering graduate was promised Rs 21,000 ($285) per month but instead had received Rs 16,000 ($217) at first, which then reduced down to Rs 12,000 ($163) in the last three months. Non-engineers allegedly had salaries cut to 8,000 ($108), and some claimed to have been paid as little as Rs 500 ($6.78.)
Apple was forced to halt production and announced that it would launch a probe into whether the supplier broke its guidelines for the iPhone assembler.
The Narasapura plant had reportedly been hiring large numbers of workers, with initial efforts from August aiming to hire 2,000 workers with a final goal of generating 10,000 jobs.
Apple continues to expand its production capacity in India, in part to help with sales in the region, but also to potentially diversify its overall manufacturing operation from a China-centric strategy.
Wistron, as well as fellow Apple assembly partners Foxconn and Pegatron, applied to India's $6.6 billion Production-Linked Incentive Scheme, which aims to build up manufacturing in India by attracting smartphone and mobile device producers.
On December 12, nearly all 2,000 employees at Wistron's Narasapura production plant took part in a violent riot against the company. Acts included damaging furniture and assembly units, smashing glass windows of executive offices, and setting fire to vehicles at the location.
According to Reuters, hundreds of the workers have been arrested or detained by police. India's Karnataka government went on record to condemn the violence, vowing to take the "strictest action" against the wrongdoers.
All India Central Council of Trade Unions, a major Indian trade union, spoke out against the state government at a press briefing.
"The state government is going extremely soft on the company and turning a blind eye to all the violations at the facility," said AICCTU's national secretary, Clifton D'Rozario. "They are generating employment that is not paying people - What purpose does such employment serve?"
Workers alleged an engineering graduate was promised Rs 21,000 ($285) per month but instead had received Rs 16,000 ($217) at first, which then reduced down to Rs 12,000 ($163) in the last three months. Non-engineers allegedly had salaries cut to 8,000 ($108), and some claimed to have been paid as little as Rs 500 ($6.78.)
Apple was forced to halt production and announced that it would launch a probe into whether the supplier broke its guidelines for the iPhone assembler.
The Narasapura plant had reportedly been hiring large numbers of workers, with initial efforts from August aiming to hire 2,000 workers with a final goal of generating 10,000 jobs.
Apple continues to expand its production capacity in India, in part to help with sales in the region, but also to potentially diversify its overall manufacturing operation from a China-centric strategy.
Wistron, as well as fellow Apple assembly partners Foxconn and Pegatron, applied to India's $6.6 billion Production-Linked Incentive Scheme, which aims to build up manufacturing in India by attracting smartphone and mobile device producers.
Comments
Most people in India will leave a job for a better sounding title and $0.05 more an hour in pay. Of course the government is not going to stand behind the workers, Apple and other companies had to pay the government just to allow them to sell their product in India. The workers should be just happen they have an opportunity to work. <sarcasm> for those who do not get it.
You're absolutely right. Vietnam seems to be a great place for Indian manufacturing. Even some ex-chinese based manufactures moved to Vietnam during US-China trade war.
There are many companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon... even Apple (maps division) operating in India for quite some time and they are doing well because they know how to treat workers with respect and compensate them properly. The only lesson India has to learn is that the government needs to enforce labor rules even after they lay a red carpet to welcome foreign investments.