Wistron fires India Vice-President, admits abuse of labour at Karnataka iPhone plant

Following the violence at the Narasapura facility of Apple supplier Wistron a week ago, the company in statement released on Saturday, December 19, admitted to 'mistakes' on its part and has removed its Vice-President who oversees the India business.

"This is a new facility and we recognise that we made mistakes as we expanded. Some of the processes we put in place to manage labour agencies and payments need to be strengthened and upgraded. We are taking immediate action to correct this, including disciplinary action" Wistron said in its statement.

According to sources, the company has removed Vincent Lee, vice-president (innovation business group) of Wistron Infocomm Manufacturing India from the post and is undertaking a restructuring of its teams internally, while Sudipto Gupta, managing director stays.

Also Read: Protests at Wistron iPhone facility a threat to PM Modi's 'Make in India' vision

The statement further read that Narasupra was a new facility and the company made mistakes while it expanded and investigation having found that some of the workers were not paid correctly, or on time.

"Our top priority is to ensure that all workers are fully compensated immediately and we are working hard to achieve that. We have established an employee assistance program for workers at the facility. We have also set up a 24-hour grievance hotline in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and English to ensure all workers can voice any concerns they may have anonymously. We are deeply committed to our business and employees in India" the statement said.

Earlier this month Vincent Lee and Sudipto Gupta met Karnataka's Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa even before the incident took place and the state government assured all help to Wistron's new warehouse in Hoskote.

Also Read: iPhone factory in Karnataka ransacked: Wistron assesses damage at Rs 437 crore