Wesley Hilliard
Apple's India iPhone assembly partner Wistron hopes to move past the December riot with new reporting structures and leadership changes.
Wistron had been placed on probation by Apple after workers rioted at a Narasapura, India facility. The company was part of Apple's move into India as it reduced its reliance on China, but labor law violations groundwork to a halt.
Now, according to Reuters, multiple steps were taken to ensure assembly could resume without further law violations. The former head of operations was moved to a less critical role, and the former India managing director was shifted to a business development role.
"This is Wistron signaling to investors, to clients, to India that it has moved beyond the shadow of the December incident and is ready for new business," Reuters' industry source said.
The plant had continued iPhone assembly in March with only 6,000 employees, half of the usual number. That has increased to 7,000 as iPhone shipments have resumed.
Wistron assembles more than iPhones for Apple. It showed a 2% revenue gain in its December quarter due to a large output of laptops for other companies. It hopes to start building Internet of Things devices to further reduce its reliance on Apple's business.
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3 Comments
My understanding is that the rioters did what they did because their managers were essentially screwing their workers on pay, and also for that neanderthal caste system on them.
It sounds like the workers quite rightly stood up to illegal management practices. It is sad they had to riot to be heard - I hope no one was injured. India is a democracy and may be this is the price for Apple of making its products in a democracy. That is, the workers will stand up for their rights.