Vida Celular

All about the best cell phones

A Apple issued a statement apologizing to employees at Wistron's factory in Karnataka, India. Last week, a series of protests carried out by employees on the iPhone production line at one of the factories of Wistron, a Taiwanese company specializing in the production of electronic components.

Understand the case

According to Apple, the protests took place in early December after employees discovered that Wistron would not make the agreed payment for iPhone production in October and November 2020 and began destroying the company's factory in India. In addition to damaging Wistron's facilities, the protesters looted the factory's stock of iPhones.

The company estimates a loss of around 4,38 billion rupees, or around R$305 million. During the protests, around 150 people were detained by the Indian police. Not all of the protesters were Wistron employees. In addition, the Apple discovered that the partner was not following the Supplier Code of Conduct – a series of procedures stipulated to guarantee both the quality of the products and the well-being of employees who have some relationship with the company.

The investigations resulted in the dismissal of Wistron’s vice president in India, and the creation of a compliance network so that employees can report any irregularities related to their employment contracts. The company also committed to making the agreed payments to employees.

The protests have raised concerns for the iPhone maker about the quality of work of its partners in countries such as India and China. Apple declared that it intends to create alternatives to closely monitor the well-being of its partners.

The content of the statement

In an official statement to Winstron employees, it stated: “Our preliminary findings indicate violations of our Supplier Code of Conduct by failing to implement adequate work hour management processes. This led to delays in paying some workers in October and November.”

The company continues: “We have placed Wistron on probation and they will not receive any new business from Apple before completing corrective actions. The employees of Apple, together with independent auditors, will monitor their progress. Our main goal is to ensure that all workers are treated with dignity and respect, and fully compensated promptly.”

Wistron's stance is detrimental to India's plans

India is the second largest smartphone market in the world, behind only China. The country's government is currently executing a series of commercial partnerships with companies such as Samsung in an attempt to overtake the Asian country as the world's largest cellphone manufacturer.

 

In all, India estimates that it could earn around $40 billion a year from the expansion of its smartphone industry. Protests like the one that took place on the iPhone production line could be detrimental to these plans, indicating that the country still needs to implement a series of labor measures to protect its population.

According to a report published by South China Morning Post, Wistron employees declare that there are reprisals and that even after the positioning of the Apple, there is strong pressure from the Indian government to protect the interest of foreign investors regarding the welfare of its workers.

Through which channels you reach those people, classic and out of the box. Ars Technica