Apple Said to Be Probing if Wistron Facility in India Flouted Supplier Rules Following Violence: Report

Workers upset about working hours and payments reportedly trashed a Wistron factory and about 100 people were detained.

By Reuters | Updated: 16 December 2020 09:06 IST

Apple Said to Be Probing if Wistron Facility in India Flouted Supplier Rules Following Violence: Report

In India, Wistron makes iPhone 7 and the second generation iPhone SE devices

Highlights

Apple's guidelines mandate third-party staffing agencies to pay workers
Wistron said in a statement it was "deeply shocked by the incident"
Wistron is one of Apple's top global suppliers

Apple is probing if its Taiwanese contractor Wistron flouted supplier guidelines at a violence-hit iPhone manufacturing facility near Bengaluru, the Economic Times said, citing people familiar with the development.

Over the weekend, several media reports said workers upset about working hours and payments trashed a Wistron factory and about a 100 people were detained.

Wistron is one of Apple's top global suppliers. In India, its makes iPhone 7 and the second generation iPhone SE devices.

[Sponsored] Samsung Galaxy S24: The Ultimate Camera Phone With Smarter On-Device AI

Two battery-powered buggies were set on fire, six vehicles were damaged and glass windows and doors of the facility were smashed by iron rod-wielding workers, according to a report.

Apple did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment. Wistron said in a statement it was "deeply shocked by the incident."

"The accident was caused by unknown persons bursting in and causing damage to the plant with unclear intentions. The company always abides by the law, and fully supports and is cooperating with relevant authorities and police investigations," the company said in a statement to the Taipei Stock Exchange.

Apple's supplier guidelines mandate third-party staffing agencies to pay workers and provide them other benefits as per rules and on time, the Economic Times said, adding it will examine if there was any disparity in wages agreed and paid to the staff.

© Thomson Reuters 2020

Is MacBook Air M1 the portable beast of a laptop that you always wanted? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.