Apple puts Wistron on probation after violation at Karnataka plant

A report by the Karnataka government also found lapses in the way Wistron tried to scale up production in the factory.
The development comes one week after violence broke out at the Wistron's Narasapura facility
The development comes one week after violence broke out at the Wistron's Narasapura facilityIANS

Bengaluru: Wistron corporation has been placed on probation after Apple found the company's fault in delaying payments in October and November to the workers.

The development comes one week after violence broke out at the Wistron's Narasapura facility, as a large number of workers went on a rampage last Saturday over salary issues.

A report by the Karnataka government also found lapses in the way Wistron tried to scale up production in the factory.

The investigation found that the practices put in place with regard to payment of wages and overtime work were not in line with the law.

Apple in a statement said, "Apple employees and independent auditors hired by Apple have been working around the clock to investigate the issues which occurred at Wistron's Narasapura facility".

"While these investigations are ongoing, our preliminary findings indicate violations of our Supplier Code of Conduct by failing to implement proper working hour management processes. This led to payment delays for some workers in October and November," the company said.

Apple has confirmed that it will not give any new business to Wistron till they take corrective actions.

"As always, our focus is on making sure everyone in our supply chain is protected and treated with dignity and respect. We are very disappointed and taking immediate steps to address these issues," Apple said.

"We have placed Wistron on probation and they will not receive any new business from Apple before they complete corrective actions. Apple employees, along with independent auditors, will monitor their progress. Our main objective is to make sure all the workers are treated with dignity and respect, and fully compensated promptly."

Wistron admitted the mistakes and apologized to all workers. They also said that they will remove the Vice President who oversees the company's business in India.

"Since the unfortunate events at our Narasapura facility we have been investigating and have found that some workers were not paid correctly, or on time. We deeply regret this and apologize to all of our workers," Wistron said.

"This is a new facility and we recognise that we made mistakes as we expanded. Some of the processes we put in place to manage labour agencies and payments need to be strengthened and upgraded," it added.

The company said that it is "working hard" to ensure all workers are fully compensated immediately.

"We have established an employee assistance program for workers at the facility. We also set up a 24-hour grievance hotline in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and English to ensure all workers can voice any concerns they may have anonymously," Wistron said.

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