Apple punished the iPhone manufacturer’s plant in India that stopped giving out wages to workers: the company suspended the transfer orders to Taiwanese assembler Wistron, who owns a factory in the Indian state of Karnataka. Bloomberg reports.
The decision came after about a thousand workers ransacked Wistron’s factory and offices last week for non-payment of wages.
It is noted that when hiring workers were promised a salary of 21 thousand rupees (286 dollars), then the pay dropped to 16 thousand rupees per month (217 dollars), and then to 12 thousand rupees (163 dollars). The total damage was about $ 7 million. After the defeat, the state police arrested 128 people, and another 300 were detained for questioning.
“Apple employees and Apple-hired independent auditors have worked around the clock to investigate issues at Wistron’s Narasapur facility. While these investigations continue, our preliminary findings indicate violations of our Supplier Code of Conduct … This has resulted in delays in payments to some employees in October and November … We put Wistron on trial and they will not receive any new orders from Apple until the situation is corrected, “the company said in a statement.
In turn, Wistron admitted that some of the plant workers were not paid properly. The company decided to fire a top manager who oversaw the firm’s business in India.
On December 13, in the Indian state of Karnataka, workers ransacked the office of the plant where Apple phones. The eyewitness video was published by the Newsflare website. About a thousand people gathered in front of the building and demanded to pay back wages. The conflict turned into riots, the protesters were dispersed by police with truncheons.
Taiwan-based Wistron Corp is a contractor for Apple. Her factory in Karnataka makes budget iPhone SE phones.