Updated: December 14, 2020 5:25:03 pm
Violence erupted during a shift change at the plant over non-payment of promised wages, local officials said (Archive)
Wistron Infocomm Manufacturing India Pvt Ltd has said it suffered losses of Rs 437.70 crore in the violence in which a section of workers wreaked havoc at its manufacturing facility for Apple iPhones and other products in the Narasapura area of Bengaluru for failure to pay promised wages.
According to the complaint by Wistron company executive Prashanth TD, office equipment, mobile phones, production machinery and related devices worth Rs 412.5 million were lost. Infrastructure worth Rs 10 million, cars and golf carts worth Rs 60, smartphones and other devices worth Rs 1.5 million are among those that were damaged, stolen or lost.
Workers Denounce Unpaid Wages and Vandalize iPhone Manufacturing Unit Near Bangalore pic.twitter.com/pbW6xAwA0I
– The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) December 12, 2020
It claimed in its complaint that 5,000 contract workers and around 2,000 unknown culprits carried out the vandalism at the facility. According to the police, a clear picture about the total loss will emerge only after assessment by the insurance company.
Police Superintendent (SP) Karthik Reddy said 160 people had been arrested so far. Police said the arrests were made based on CCTV footage and after checking the list of workers on the shift to determine the culprits.
Kolar police recorded cases under IPC 143 (illegal assembly), 147 (riot), 148 (riot with a deadly weapon armed), 323 (causing harm voluntarily), 448 (trespassing), 395 (mischief), 427 (Mischief causing damage in the amount of fifty rupees), 504 (Intentional insult with the intention of causing a breach of public order), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 149 (Any member of the illegal assembly guilty of a crime committed in pursuit of a common object).
Violence broke out during a shift change at the plant due to non-payment of promised wages. Work on the 43-acre plant was suspended and police tightened security in the area. Most of the store owners in the industrial area have also closed their stores for fear of trouble.
Local officials said that following the Covid-19 shutdown, the salaries of workers, including engineering graduates who earn between 15,000 and 21,000 rupees a month, were reduced by 7,000-9,000 rupees.
Speaking to indianexpress.com, KV Suresh Kumar, chairman of the state unit of the Unorganized Sector Workers Union, said: labor supply. There are many factories that will be installed this year and the government must take care of the needs and safety of the factory employees ”.
Apple said it was sending team members and additional auditors to the facility. “Apple is dedicated to ensuring that everyone in our supply chain is treated with dignity and respect. We have teams on the ground and immediately began a detailed investigation at Wistron’s Narasapura facility in India. We are also dispatching additional Apple team members and auditors to the facility. Our teams are in close contact with local authorities and we are offering our full support to their investigation, ”he said in a statement.
The Taiwan-based technical service provider company opened the Kolar plant last year with an initial investment of Rs 680 million. It operates as a service center and manufacturing center for products, including the iPhone, and employs about 3,000 workers. The company is looking to invest almost Rs 3,000 crore more to expand the facilities and aims to provide employment for 9,467 local residents when the second phase of the plant is completed.
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