Audio By Carbonatix
For the second time in two months, Apple is putting one of the companies it hires to build the iPhone on notice for violating labor laws. Reuters, Bloomberg and others are reporting that Apple has put Taiwanese manufacturing giant Wistron on “probation” — meaning it won’t receive any new business from Apple until it sorts things out — after the supplier was found exploiting workers at a plant in India.
The reason we’re hearing about this at all is rather incredible: on December 12th, some 2,000 workers decided to protest unpaid wages by rioting at one of Wistron’s offices, smashing up the lobby and overturning vehicles.
Karnataka: #Violence at iPhone production plant run by Taiwan-based #Wistron Corp at Narasapura (in Kolar district) near #Bengaluru.
— TOI Bengaluru (@TOIBengaluru) December 12, 2020
Employees allege they have not been paid properly. pic.twitter.com/GKbeFeyRKc
It now turns out that the workers’ complaints were legitimate: Wistron is admitting as much, and the local government found serious labor violations in its preliminary investigation, according to the South China Morning Post and Reuters. They say Wistron was indeed underpaying wages and forcing some people to work overtime. And that’s just Wistron itself. The SCMP reports police are also investigating middlemen who are targeting Apple’s contract workers:
There have also been allegations of middlemen exploiting the contract workers and skimming their wages, with police looking into the role of six contractors who acted as go-betweens for Wistron. They reportedly lured workers by promising them an additional allowance if they forewent breaks.
The investigation also reportedly reveals that 8,500 of the Wistron factory’s 10,500 workers were contractors rather than full-time employees, and that the plant may have only been permitted for 5,000 workers to begin with. (Wistron started assembling iPhones in India back in 2017.)
Wistron issued an apology, saying that it’s “enhancing its processes and restructuring our teams to ensure these issues cannot happen again,” adding that it’s already established “a 24-hour grievance hotline” and “an employee assistant program.” The company says it also sacked its VP of business in India.
Apple didn’t immediately reply to our request for comment.
The question now is whether Apple will do anything meaningful to keep its suppliers from exploiting workers now that they’re making headlines yet again. The company has a notable history of being associated with labor violations, and a recent report suggested that Apple turns a blind eye to them even when it knows there’s a problem. Did Apple know about this?
Latest Stories
-
COCOBOD Deputy CEO welcomes probe amid conflict of interest allegations
21 minutes -
152 bales of suspected cannabis intercepted in Western Region, three arrested
23 minutes -
Cats and dogs are family, not meat – ICS demands a total ban
31 minutes -
Gov’t may consider tax cut if revenue leakages are sealed – Deputy Finance Minister
39 minutes -
Devastating Zabzugu Market fire leaves traders with huge losses
40 minutes -
Samini’s ORIGIN8A surges to no. 1 on Ghana Shazam chart, hits over 1 million streams on Audiomack
1 hour -
Chad shuts border with Sudan after cross-border incursion kills its troops
1 hour -
Poison in our cooking pots: study links Ghana’s aluminium cookware to lead exposure: A policy commentary
1 hour -
TCDA celebrates success of first Ghana Tree Crops Investments Summit with Thanksgiving Service
1 hour -
Richmond Eduku: Unlike before, Central Bank’s financing of government’s deficit has been curtailed
1 hour -
Support youth to venture into farming – Gov’t urged
1 hour -
Nsarkoh criticises NPP, NDC over inequality and galamsey failures
2 hours -
KATH Orthopaedic Unit raises alarm over surge in road accident cases
2 hours -
Joseph Abaa Akaseke: Bongo DCE dies after short illness
2 hours -
Poor storage, expensive seeds driving Ghana’s tomato shortages and glut – PFAG
2 hours
