Protests have been erupting over subpar food and accommodation conditions for the factory workers
Apple has put its supplier Foxconn’s Sriperumbudur factory on probation until further notice following protests from workers.
The meaning of probation in Apple’s case is unclear since it has not issued any explanation.
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What Probation Means Here
But it can be assumed that it would refuse to award Foxconn new business until it addressed the way workers were treated, which it did with another supplier, Wistron Corp at its Karnataka plant last year.
Protests have been erupting over subpar food and accommodation conditions for the factory workers
Both Apple and Foxconn have taken cognisance of the issues and have pledged to address them before reopening the factory.
The Issue
About 17,000 people work at the facility and among those, hundreds of women living in one of the hostels began protesting after they had contracted food poisoning.
Because of the incident, several had to receive medical treatment and over a 100 were hospitalized.
The state government intervened and asked Foxconn to review services provided to the workers.
Apple’s Investigation
Apple said that it deployed independent auditors to assess the situation.
An Apple spokesperson in India said that they found some of the remote dormitory accommodations and dining rooms for employees failed to meet its requirements.
They added that they are “working with the supplier to ensure a comprehensive set of corrective actions are rapidly implemented”.
Foxconn’s Investigation
Foxconn is also conducting its own investigations and has found that “some offsite dormitory facilities do not meet the required standards.”
It apologised for the situation and said that it will take “immediate steps to enhance the facilities and services we provide at the remote dormitory accommodations.”
In order to maintain its standards, it is also restructuring its local management team and management systems.
While the necessary improvements are being made, the employees will continue to be paid before operations resume.
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