Reason for riot at Wistron's iPhone plant in India unclear: source
New Delhi, Dec. 13 (CNA) Riots broke out Saturday at an iPhone factory in India, run by Taiwan-based contract manufacturer Wistron Corp. reportedly over unpaid wages, although the company had commissioned employment agencies to pay the workers, according to a Taiwanese businessman with knowledge of the situation.
The reports in the Indian media that Wistron was paying the workers less than the agreed amount were inaccurate, according to the businessman, who asked not to be named because he is based in India and fears for his safety.
He said Wistron had commissioned five manpower agencies to recruit workers and had made full payments to the five agencies on time.
The riots at the factory may have resulted from disputes between the contracted employment agencies and employees, but there are some issues that are not clear, he told CNA.
According to the businessman, because of the caste system in India, a structure that divides different people in different social groups, lower level workers tend to place more trust in employers and managers of higher castes.
It is not clear whether the violence at the Wistron plant was instigated by employment agencies or the Indian factory managers to extort the company, taking advantage of its unfamiliarity with the laws and regulations in India, the businessman told CNA.
The riots broke out Saturday morning when some 2,000 workers at Wistron's new factory in the Narasapura industrial town in Karnataka State went on a rampage after their night shift, destroying furniture and factory assembly units and attempting to set fire to vehicles, over alleged pay cuts, according to Indian media reports.
Police rushed to the scene and broke up the riots, arresting about 100 people.
According to The Times of India, the employees were angry because they were not being paid the wages that had been agreed on when they were recruited.
Wistron, meanwhile, said the incident was not deemed a strike but rather a criminal case, as the new factory was targeted by gangsters amid poor public order in that part of the country.
The rioters were outsiders, not factory employees, a Wistron representative said in phone interview with CNA, adding that the Indian government was also examining that angle.
The company representative said some office furniture at the factory was damaged but the equipment on the main assembly lines and the warehouses remained intact.
Ben Wang (王永平), head of the Taiwan office in Chennai, told CNA on Sunday that he had discussed the matter with Karnataka's Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and Minister for Large and Medium Scale Industries Jagadish Shettar.
The top state authorities promised that the safety of Taiwanese businesses will be protected and the investigation into the riots will be expedited, Wang said.
They also said gave the assurance that the incident would not become a deterrent to Taiwanese investment in the state, said Wang, who is currently on a visit to Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka, at the invitation of the Karnataka State government.
On Saturday, Shettar said the state government would give the necessary protection to the Wistron plant in Kolar, which was vandalized by its employees, and to other foreign companies that have invested in the state.
Saturday's incident "occurred over the non-payment of salary due for several months," the minister said in a press statement. "The protest against the management turned violent after some people started vandalising the office, setting vehicles on fire, pelting stones and setting the company's board on fire."
Expressing regret over the incident, Shettar said it is not right to take the law into one's own hand, no matter what the problem is.
(By Charles Kang and Evelyn Kao)
https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202012130005
welcome to democratic unionized country where mafia rules
New Delhi, Dec. 13 (CNA) Riots broke out Saturday at an iPhone factory in India, run by Taiwan-based contract manufacturer Wistron Corp. reportedly over unpaid wages, although the company had commissioned employment agencies to pay the workers, according to a Taiwanese businessman with knowledge of the situation.
The reports in the Indian media that Wistron was paying the workers less than the agreed amount were inaccurate, according to the businessman, who asked not to be named because he is based in India and fears for his safety.
He said Wistron had commissioned five manpower agencies to recruit workers and had made full payments to the five agencies on time.
The riots at the factory may have resulted from disputes between the contracted employment agencies and employees, but there are some issues that are not clear, he told CNA.
According to the businessman, because of the caste system in India, a structure that divides different people in different social groups, lower level workers tend to place more trust in employers and managers of higher castes.
It is not clear whether the violence at the Wistron plant was instigated by employment agencies or the Indian factory managers to extort the company, taking advantage of its unfamiliarity with the laws and regulations in India, the businessman told CNA.
The riots broke out Saturday morning when some 2,000 workers at Wistron's new factory in the Narasapura industrial town in Karnataka State went on a rampage after their night shift, destroying furniture and factory assembly units and attempting to set fire to vehicles, over alleged pay cuts, according to Indian media reports.
Police rushed to the scene and broke up the riots, arresting about 100 people.
According to The Times of India, the employees were angry because they were not being paid the wages that had been agreed on when they were recruited.
Wistron, meanwhile, said the incident was not deemed a strike but rather a criminal case, as the new factory was targeted by gangsters amid poor public order in that part of the country.
The rioters were outsiders, not factory employees, a Wistron representative said in phone interview with CNA, adding that the Indian government was also examining that angle.
The company representative said some office furniture at the factory was damaged but the equipment on the main assembly lines and the warehouses remained intact.
Ben Wang (王永平), head of the Taiwan office in Chennai, told CNA on Sunday that he had discussed the matter with Karnataka's Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and Minister for Large and Medium Scale Industries Jagadish Shettar.
The top state authorities promised that the safety of Taiwanese businesses will be protected and the investigation into the riots will be expedited, Wang said.
They also said gave the assurance that the incident would not become a deterrent to Taiwanese investment in the state, said Wang, who is currently on a visit to Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka, at the invitation of the Karnataka State government.
On Saturday, Shettar said the state government would give the necessary protection to the Wistron plant in Kolar, which was vandalized by its employees, and to other foreign companies that have invested in the state.
Saturday's incident "occurred over the non-payment of salary due for several months," the minister said in a press statement. "The protest against the management turned violent after some people started vandalising the office, setting vehicles on fire, pelting stones and setting the company's board on fire."
Expressing regret over the incident, Shettar said it is not right to take the law into one's own hand, no matter what the problem is.
(By Charles Kang and Evelyn Kao)
