Apple has announced its Foxconn supplier plant in India after the protest

Sudarshan Varadhan and Sayantani Ghosh

CHENNAI (Reuters) – Apple said it had put Foxconn in charge of a factory in the South Indian iPhone assembly after seeing that the two companies did not meet the standards required by some staff bedrooms and dining rooms.

Apple (NASDAQ 🙂 did not explain what the probation meant.

When Wistron Corp. put another South India plant in custody after the riots last year, it said it would not give the company any new business until it tackled the way workers are treated.

The latest action comes after protests erupted this month after more than 250 women working in a Foxcon plant living in one of their bedrooms were treated for food poisoning. More than 150 were hospitalized, Reuters reported.

The plant, which is located in the town of Sriperumbudur near Chennai and employs about 17,000 people, was closed on 18 December. Apple and Foxconn did not say when they expected to reopen.

A spokesman for Taiwan’s Foxconn said on Wednesday that the local management team was restructuring, taking immediate steps to improve the facility, adding that all staff would continue to be paid while making the necessary improvements to restart operations.

An Apple spokesman said on Wednesday it had sent independent auditors to assess room conditions “following Foxconn Sriperumbudur’s latest concern over food safety and accommodation conditions.”

Apple said some rooms and dining rooms that were not on the factory premises did not meet its requirements and that it was working with the supplier to ensure a full set of corrective actions, and added that it would do so. its stringent standards are met before the facility reopens.

A senior government official familiar with the matter said Foxconn is answering questions from the state government about the equipment provided to staff. “Once they get the government’s permits, the staff will come in and the company will start production,” the official said.

A second official said the reopening of the Foxconn plant in Chennai could be postponed until Monday.

Earlier this week, Reuters reported that Foxconn and its 11 contractors, including those providing food and living facilities, had called a meeting with the state government and asked officials to ask Foxconn to review staffing services, including energy protection. in accommodation, food and water.

Apple is expected to have minimal impact on the closure of the factory that makes the iPhone 12 models and has begun test production of the iPhone 13, analysts said. But the factory is strategic in the long run, as the U.S. technology giant seeks to reduce confidence in China’s supply chain between trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.