Violence broke out at the Wistron Corporation plant in Karnataka, Kolar, where a swarm of workers raged for non-payment of wages and wage cuts around 6:30 am during a shift change on Saturday. The workers threw stones, smashed glass windows, damaged vehicles, furniture and other office equipment.
Karnataka’s deputy prime minister CN Ashwath Narayan condemned the incident and state minister for large and medium-sized industries Jagadish Shettar said on Saturday that the state government would provide the company with necessary protection.
Wistron is one of Apple’s worldwide contractual partners. The company manufactures iPhone 7 phones and second generation iPhone SE devices in India.
Here’s what we know about the violence in Wistron so far:
1. The company claimed to have suffered a loss of Rs.437.40. This included office equipment, cell phones, manufacturing machinery and related devices valued at Rs.412.5 billion, infrastructure valued at Rs 10 billion, cars and golf carts valued at Rs 60 billion, smartphones and other devices valued at Rs 1.5 billion Billion rupees according to company director TD Prashanth.
2. Wistron has filed a First Information Report (FIR) against 7,000 people, including 5,000 of its contract workers and 2,000 who did not work there, police said.
3. The company had plans to hire up to 25,000 employees by the end of 2021 to expand its operations in India. However, this does not seem likely. They currently employ 12,000 people, 1,200 of whom are permanent employees, while the rest are contract employees.
4. Apple Inc is currently investigating the violence and allegations of non-payment and cuts in employee salaries. The company encourages its suppliers to create safe working conditions, treat workers with dignity and respect, act fairly and ethically, and use environmentally conscious practices wherever they manufacture products or provide services to the company.
5. “Our teams are in close contact with the local authorities and we offer their full support for their investigations,” the company said in a statement. Wistron issued a statement on the incident on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, which said: “The company always obeys the law and fully supports and cooperates with the relevant authorities and police investigations.”