Apple said it was very disappointed with what happened, and its preliminary findings indicate violations of its Supplier Code of Conduct by failing to implement proper hours management processes. “We have put Wistron on probation and they will not receive any new business from Apple before completing corrective actions,” he said.
Sources told TOI that Wistron has fired Vincent Lee, vice president of the innovation business group at Wistron Infocomm Manufacturing India. Lee, who is based in Taiwan, had called Karnataka’s prime minister, BS Yediyurappa, earlier this month when he visited Bengaluru.
Additionally, TOI was told that Wistron has cleared the outstanding payments.
Wistron, what does iPhones and other products, said in its statement that the Narasapura facility is new “and we recognize that we made mistakes as we expanded.” He said that some of the processes implemented to manage labor agencies and payments need to be strengthened and improved. “We are taking immediate action to correct this, including disciplinary action. We will remove the vice president who oversees our business in India. We are also improving our processes and restructuring our teams to ensure that these problems do not reoccur, ”he said.
The Karnataka labor department’s investigation is said to have found that Wistron was not keeping proper appointment and employment details, was not keeping up-to-date wage and attendance records, and was asking workers to take 12-hour shifts.
Wistron, in a statement sent to TOI, said: “The safety and well-being of our team members is always our top priority and a core value for everyone at Wistron. Since the unfortunate events at our Narasapura facility, we have been investigating and have discovered that some workers did not receive the correct or on-time payment. We deeply regret this and we apologize to all of our workers. ”
The company said it has established an employee assistance program for workers at the facility. “We also established a 24-hour complaint hotline in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and English to ensure that all workers can raise any concerns they may have anonymously,” he said.
Apple said it was taking immediate action to address all the issues. “Wistron has taken disciplinary action and is restructuring its hiring and payroll teams in Narasapura … Apple employees, along with independent auditors, will monitor its progress. Our main objective is to ensure that all workers are treated with dignity and respect, and that they are fully compensated promptly, ”he said.
Wistron had pledged to invest 3 billion rupees in the 43-acre Narasapura land. Much of their hiring was through staffing solutions companies including Randstad, Quess Corp, Innovsource, Adecco India and creative engineers. Many of those hired through these agencies have contracts. Sources told TOI that there were procedural lapses in the incorporation process and non-payment of fees by four of these agencies. The hiring rate was intense, with a workforce that went from 1,500 to 12,000 in three months. Wistron pays the agencies after they produce invoices for the payment of wages.
Wistron is said to have suffered a loss of between Rs 40-50 million as a result of the violence. In the police report, a figure of Rs 437 million was mentioned as a loss suffered. A source told TOI that the company had inadvertently provided the insured sum for the facility.
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