Windows broken, cars overturned, equipment destroyed near Bengaluru after contract workers didn’t get paid what they say they were promised.
My take: Not a great start for Apple’s foray into Indian assembly and manufacture. I was going to make a ignorant remark about Indian factory workers being less compliant than their Chinese counterparts, but Google reminds me that there was a riot in 2012 over working and living conditions at a Foxconn iPhone factory in Northern China.
UPDATE: More detail from the Times of India:
Though Wistron is yet to comment on the violence, sources told The Times of India that the employee unrest was triggered by salary remittances made to them. Sources said the employees were angry that the company was not paying the amount that was promised to them at the time of joining. “While an engineering graduate was promised Rs 21,000 per month, his/her salary had reduced to Rs 16,000 and, subsequently, to Rs 12,000 in the recent months… On Friday night, the employees started discussing about their salaries on their floors and some alleged that they had received only low as as Rs 500 in their bank accounts. The anger turned into violence by the time the shift ended, the employee added.
Apple should be livid (I know I am) and I am sure Apple will hold whoever is accountable. These explicit scenes leave indelible impressions on the minds of viewers, and companies wonder why Unions exist. This would not have occurred if a Union existed. Within the industrialized nations, Unions have been the most powerful force in building social protections, not just for their own members, but for all society.
8 to 10 weeks?
I hope (well, based on further research, presume that) my colleagues in Bangalore/Bengaluru are safe.
There is no link in the article, PED, so it is hard to follow up or comment on content.
It’s not an iPhone factory, it’s a Wistron factory.
Also “near” Bangalore is 50 miles away, so it’s a bit of a hike.
PED, this is not about workers being compliant. This is about management fulfilling its fiduciary responsibility with its workers and once that fiduciary responsibility is fulfilled, ensuring that all workers no matter their color, no matter their race, no matter their ethnicity, no matter their sex, creed, sexual orientation, disability status all are treated in a “fair & equitable” manner in doing their jobs.
India is so very crucial to Apple’s future. India is even more important than what China was to Apple. Apple still is in its embryonic stages of developing its India operations and we need to get it right with India’s good citizens.
India has the same size population as China and India has the youngest population on the planet. India has been an extremely hard nut to crack and just when Apple is making progress in India, Wistron prostituted the worker values Apple cherishes. This debacle sets us back.
I trust that Mr. Khan and a team assessment of auditors already are on-site in India interviewing appropriate Wistron’s executives, including affected contract workers. Make things right!
This sets all parties back… too much greed. Management / government heads must roll.
Not impressed.
Tim, you’re the logistics genius behind Apple’s success. This should have been on your radar. Spectacular own goal in an otherwise fantastic series of launches and strategic decisions which are a core part of reducing dependency on China. Not impressed.
@ “…Cook …making speech …while the factories are on fire due to workers rights and payment issues. Having gone through the same problems …you’d have thought they’d have covered every base with Wistron. Not impressed.”
Sounds like you’re a hard one to impress. Nothing wrong with that. My experience tells me one can cover every base and still have fires to put out. Then it’s all about recovery. What do you think?
@ “Tim, you’re the logistics genius … This should have been on your radar. … in an otherwise fantastic series of launches and strategic decisions…. Not impressed.”
With Cook’s track record, I expect it was on his radar. Even in the best of times there’s a difference between catching every missile on the radar and managing damage control..
Will you please expand, including from current position, is it possible to recover and impress? If so, what does that look like?
The Times of India update reports “…the employees started discussing about their salaries on their floors and some alleged that they had received only low as as Rs 500 in their bank accounts. The anger turned into violence by the time the shift ended…” reminds us it’s prudent to wait for the official report before we jump to conclusions, declaring heads will roll.
Let’s wait for the smoke to clear and reports clarify exactly what happened, who was responsible and what was actually behind this? What steps are put in place to remedy the situation.
Wistron is also partnered with an Indian company, Optiemus, in India to provide smartphones of their own design.
Continued
Manufacturing incentives (at Apple’s request), 2) exploit plentiful cheaper less expensive labor compared with China now, and 3) push the cheating cheapness employer envelope with so much cheap labor available (don’t like it (wages, working conditions, contract, hours), fine, we’ve got hundreds to take your place). And despite India being a functioning Democracy, there is quite a history of discrimination, caste, poverty, corruption at local, state, and governmental levels, all ripe for corruptive and corrosive business practices, IMO. Wistron may be trying to see what it can get away with, perhaps by bad internal players locally, or maybe from a corporate level? IMO.
Is this characteristic of Asian factory management? IMO, yes, has been for a long time until recognition and regulation (and outside big customers like Apple) forced them to comply better with governmental oversight, contract agreements with employees, and pressure from big customers who care (Apple). Are their other big customers who don’t care? IMO, yes. When did you ever hear of these employee or work disputes at Wistron or other ODMs in relation to the brands they supply? Everyone else sweeps it under the rug or ignores it in the name of lowest priced contracts. No wonder cheap Android units exist to fill out brand product portfolios.
Continued .
Well stated Bart Yee. This is exactly the core of the problem and it is what I felt in my comments written on this subject. Apple executives will nip this issue in the bud quickly. I immediately saw, as you did, what was happening.