Bangalore:
Almost a week after the violence broke out at a Karnataka factory owned by Taiwan-based Wistron Pvt Ltd, which makes Apple iPhones, the company today removed its top executive overseeing operations in India. “The safety and well-being of our team members is always our top priority,” Wistron said, admitting that “some workers were not paid correctly or on time.” In a statement, Apple said the vendor has been paroled and “will not receive any new business before completing corrective actions.”
Last Saturday, several thousand contract workers at the factory near Bengaluru, angered by the alleged unpaid wages, destroyed factory property and equipment; Apple’s supplier had estimated the damages at $ 7.12 million. Earlier this week, the center called on the state to investigate wage and labor disputes, and ensure that investor confidence is not affected as a result of the violence.
Today, the Taiwanese firm said in a statement: “We are removing the vice president who oversees our business in India. We are also improving our processes and restructuring our teams to ensure these problems do not recur.”
“The safety and well-being of our team members is always our top priority and core value at Wistron. Since the unfortunate events at our Narasapura facility, we have discovered that some workers were not paid correctly or on time. We are deeply sorry and we are we apologize to all our workers, “the firm quoted the ANI news agency as saying.
“Our top priority is to ensure that all workers receive full compensation immediately and we are working hard to achieve this. We have established an employee assistance program for facility workers. We are diligently working on corrective actions to ensure we do not so be it. It won’t happen again, “he also said.
Wistron is one of Apple’s leading global suppliers. In a statement, the tech giant said today that it will put the company on probation. “Our preliminary findings indicate violations of our Code of Conduct for Suppliers by not implementing adequate processes for managing working hours. This caused delays in payments for some workers in October and November,” the statement read.
“We are very disappointed and are taking immediate action to address these issues. Wistron has taken disciplinary action and is restructuring their hiring and payroll teams in Narasapura. They have also established an employee assistance program and 24-hour complaint hotline. in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, and English to ensure that all workers at the facility can voice their concerns anonymously. Our main goal is to ensure that all workers are treated with dignity and respect, and compensated completely promptly, “he stressed.
A government inspection revealed that the Apple supplier was unable to cope with the rapidly increasing workforce and violated several laws, the Reuters news agency reported. The workforce at this plant, which was recently installed, increased to 10,500 workers from the 5,000 allowed in a short period of time, according to a report from Karnataka’s factories department, Reuters cited the report.
“Although there are 10,500 workers employed at the factory, the human resources department has not been adequately created with staff with solid knowledge of labor laws.”
Wistron introduced 12-hour shifts from the previous eight-hour shifts in October, but did not adequately address “the confusion in the minds of workers” about their new wages, including overtime, the report noted.
(With input from Reuters, ANI)
.
