Thousands of iPhones stolen during Wistron factory attack in Karnataka, Wistron claims damage of Rs 440 crore

Wistron has reported that during the violence thousands of iPhones were stolen and the property was damaged, which led to a total loss of around Rs 437 crore.

Ankita Chakravarti
New Delhi
December 14, 2020 UPDATED: December 14, 2020 11:11 IST

HIGHLIGHTS

• Wistron, which primarily manufactures iPhones in India was vandalised by its own employees over payment issues.
• Thousands of iPhones were looted and Wistron’s factory equipment was destroyed during the attack,
• Karnataka labour minister Shivaram Hebbar had condemned the attack on the company.

The Taiwan-based manufacturing plant, Wistron, which primarily manufactures iPhones in India was vandalised by its own employees over payment issues. The Wistron plant, which is situated in Karnataka’s Narsapura was ransacked by the employees for not paying the salary that was promised to them. Now as per the latest report, during the violence thousands of iPhones were stolen and the property was damaged, which led to a total loss of around Rs 437 crore.

As per a Times of India report, it was reported that thousands of iPhones were looted and Wistron’s factory equipment was destroyed during the attack, the manufacturing plant in its complaint had stated. Karnataka labour minister Shivaram Hebbar had condemned the attack on the company.

On December 12, over 2000 employees went on a rampage destroying the company’s equipment, furniture and even tried to douse vehicles that were present at the manufacturing plant. The offices of seniors executives were also attacked by the employees. It was being reported that the employees were enraged because they were not being paid the salary that was promised to them at the time of joining.

“While an engineering graduate was promised Rs 21,000 per month, his/her salary had reduced to Rs 16,000 and, subsequently, to Rs 12,000 in the recent months. Non-engineering graduates’ monthly salary had reduced to Rs 8,000. The salary amount being credited to our accounts have been reducing and it was frustrating to see this,” an employee alleged. Reports also revealed that some employees received as low as Rs 500 in their bank accounts as they monthly payouts.

However, the government in a statement said that the despite between Wistron and the contract employees was going on for months. It was reported that the employees hired through third-party companies were around 8900 and had 1200 permanent employees.

According to labour minister Hebbar, Wistron had made payments to the contractors but they delayed the payments to the employees. However, Hebbar was not sure whether this was the actual reason for the delay in payments. He further said that the labour department had asked Wistron to clear the dues of the employees who were impacted in three days.

The Wistron plant which was vandalised by its own employees was being used to manufacture iPhone SE, the most affordable iPhone, the Internet of Things (IOT) products and biotech devices. It had invested Rs 2,900 crore and had employed over 10,000 people.