BENGALURU: Apple put its contract manufacturer Wistron on probation on Saturday, while the latter fired a senior official, a week after large-scale violence and destruction of company property by employees in his Narasapura facility near Bengaluru.
Apple said in a statement that it was very disappointed with what happened and its preliminary findings indicate violations by Wistron of its Code of Conduct for Suppliers.
Wistron, he said, did not implement proper work-hour management processes. “We have put Wistron on probation and they will not receive any new business from Apple before completing corrective actions,” he said.
In a statement, Wistron said it is taking immediate action to correct the problems. “We are removing the vice president who oversees our business in India,” he said.
Wistron, Apple recognize lapses
“We are also improving our processes and restructuring our equipment to ensure that these problems do not reoccur,” the Wistron statement added.
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 asked Karnataka Prime Minister BS Yediyurappa earlier this month when he visited Bengaluru.
Both Apple and Wistron acknowledged that there were lapses in payments to workers in October and November. The facility employs 12,000 people. Large numbers of these workers were unleashed on December 12, damaging equipment and vehicles, breaking down office infrastructure, and taking away large amounts of iPhones. Installation is an important assembler of iPhones. Wistron has estimated the total damage to be between Rs 40 and Rs 50 crore.
Wistron said 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.
Wistron, in a statement sent to TOI, said: “Since the unfortunate events at our Narasapura facility, we have been investigating and have discovered that some workers did not receive the correct or timely payment. We deeply regret this and we apologize to all of our workers. ”
Apple said it was taking immediate action to address all the issues.
On Video: Apple Puts Wistron on Probation, New Business Suspended
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