Dramatic video shows employees smashing windows in response to pay disputes.
ARS Technica
Date: 12/15/2020
By: Ron Amadeo
Buses stand in front of the entrance of Wistron, a Taiwanese-run iPhone factory, at Narsapura, about 60 km from Bangalore on December 13, 2020. – Authorities vowed to crack down on workers who went on a violent rampage at a Taiwanese-run iPhone factory in southern India over allegations of unpaid wages and exploitation, with 100 people arrested so far. (Photo by Manjunath Kiran / AFP) (Photo by MANJUNATH KIRAN/AFP via Getty Images)
The Times of India has several on-the-ground reports and dramatic video of the protests. The news outlet reports, "A majority of the nearly 2,000 employees, who were exiting the facility after completing their night-shift, went on a rampage destroying the company's furniture, assembly units and even attempted to set fire to vehicles."
The Times of India also has details on the salary workers were supposed to be getting, with the report quoting an employee as saying, "While an engineering graduate was promised Rs 21,000 ($286) per month, his/her salary had reduced to Rs 16,000 ($218) and, subsequently, to Rs 12,000 ($163) in the recent months. Non-engineering graduates' monthly salary had reduced to Rs 8,000 ($109). The salary amount being credited to our accounts have been reducing and it was frustrating to see this." Some workers claim to have gotten monthly salaries of as little as Rs 500 ($6.80).
Wistron is one of Apple's top suppliers, and Apple says it is investigating the company to see if Winstron violated Apple's supplier guidelines. [FULL STORY]
