India Wistron iPhone plant resumes production after December riots

Posted:
in iPhone edited March 2021
Apple iPhone production partner Wistron has resumed manufacturing at its Narasapura, India facility after a riot in December had forced the factory to close.




Wistron has finally resumed manufacturing at its Indian facility in Karnataka's Kolar district, following riots that took place in mid-December of 2020.

According to The India Times, the company is taking things slow, and has chosen to reopen with only 6,000 people for now. Previously, the company had operated with 12,000 on staff but is planning on scaling up gradually after conducting background checks on all employees.

India's government has visited the facility to interface with the workers, asking them to first reach out to the authorities before turning to violence.

Karnataka's industry minister Jagadish Shettar told the workers that incidents of violence would only hurt the region's growth.

In December, factory workers had begun to riot over claims that they were not being paid what Wistron allegedly promised them. Employees claimed they saw pay reductions of up to 42% over what they had been promised, with engineers claiming their monthly salary of Rs 21,000 ($285) had been reduced to Rs 12,000 ($163.)

Employees smashed glass, flipped cars, and damaged factory equipment as an act of protest against unfair treatment.

The company had been put on probation by Apple, with Wistron scrambling to rectify the situation to Apple's satisfaction. An investigation into the facility showed several violations of Apple's Supplier Code of Conduct.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    multimediamultimedia Posts: 1,056member
    $285 a month for engineers is highway robbery on the part of Wistron. That is rediculously low. 
  • Reply 2 of 4
    mknelsonmknelson Posts: 1,141member
    $285 a month for engineers is highway robbery on the part of Wistron. That is rediculously low. 
    And yet it actually compares quite well with the average incomes in India. They have a much lower cost of living.

    Also a ridiculous level of income inequality compared to North America or Europe, and that's really saying something!
  • Reply 3 of 4
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    This coincides with India shutting down one of its largest steel plants while they sort out how the plant pays its workers, their pay for temporary workers and establishes a path for those temporary workers to become employees.

    These were the same issues that triggered the revolt at Wistron. 
    Good to hear that India listened to the message and is taking it seriously.
  • Reply 4 of 4
    tzeshantzeshan Posts: 2,351member
    Doubt the plant hire Indian engineers. A manufacturing plant usually need managers that do not need to have engineering background. And even higher portion Wistron will use its own staff from Taiwan. 
    GeorgeBMac
Sign In or Register to comment.