The Apple iPhone manufacturing plant run by Wistron has resumed operations at its Narasapura facility at Kolar district in Karnataka on Wednesday. All the requisite clearance has been obtained before opening the facility, said Large and Medium Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar said during his visit to the facility. The factory was shut since December 12, 2020, after some workers at the facility took to vandalism when their repeated complaints about pending salaries and indiscriminate pay cuts were ignored.
“The wage-related issues that occurred in December have left many employees staring at a bleak future. We don't want a repeat of such incidents. Henceforth, bring any grievances to the notice of the local district administration and find a middle path to resolve the issues,” Shettar told the workers at the Wistron facility. He also interacted with the employees and inquired about their well-being and working conditions.
While speaking about the violence that erupted at the factory in Kolar district on December 12, Shettar said that “no issues can be resolved through violence”. He emphasised that in the future, any conflicts must be resolved through discussions with management and district officials.
On December 12, 2020, videos of contractual employees of the iPhone manufacturing facility at Kolar vandalising the property went viral. The employees said that their anger was pent up for over six months from when the incident occurred, as the management had not addressed their grievances while they struggled with delayed payments and lack of overtime pay. The enraged employees had resorted to violence because the officials had refused to engage with them.
Jagadish Shettar on February 18 had announced plans to resume operations at the Wistron facility soon. He issued the statement after a meeting with company and government officials, and expressed his happiness over the start of the re-appointment process.
The scrutiny of the violence found Wistron guilty of violating labour laws, leading to Vice President (Innovation Business group) Vincent Lee being immediately removed in disciplinary action. The company had also set up a 24-hour grievance helpline as a corrective measure. Moreover, Apple had demoted the firm to probationary status for violating its ‘Supplier Code of Conduct’