After both businesses discovered that several worker dorms and dining rooms did not meet minimum standards, Apple said it has placed the southern Indian facility of iPhone assembler Foxconn on probation.
Apple did not elaborate on what probation included.
After last year’s upheaval in southern India, it put another supplier, Wistron Corp, on probation, stating that it would not award new business to that company unless it changed the way workers were handled.
More than 250 women who work at the Foxconn plant and live in one of the dormitories were treated for food poisoning earlier this month, prompting protests. According to reporters, more than 150 people were sent to the hospital.
The plant, which employs roughly 17,000 people and is located in the town of Sriperumbudur near Chennai, was shut down on December 18. Apple and Foxconn did not provide an estimated delivery date.
On Wednesday, a Foxconn spokesman said the company was revamping its local management team and taking immediate efforts to upgrade facilities, adding that all employees would be paid while the company made the necessary modifications to resume operations.
“Following recent concerns about food safety and accommodation conditions at Foxconn Sriperumbudur,” an Apple representative said on Wednesday that the company had dispatched independent auditors to check conditions at the dormitories.
Apple said it discovered that some dormitory accommodations and dining rooms that were not on the factory’s premises did not meet its requirements and that it was working with the supplier to ensure a comprehensive set of corrective actions, adding that it would ensure that its strict standards were met before the facility reopened.
According to a senior government source acquainted with the situation, Foxconn has been responding to questions from the state government on the benefits granted to employees. “Workers will be inducted and the company will resume production once they receive clearance from the government,” the official said.
The reopening of the Foxconn plant in Chennai, according to a second official, could be postponed until Monday.
Earlier this week the state government summoned Foxconn and 11 of its contractors, including those who provide food and living quarters, for a meeting, and that officials had asked Foxconn to review services provided to the workers, including power backup at the hostels, food, and water.
Analysts predict that the shutdown of the factory, which produces iPhone 12 models and has begun trial production of the iPhone 13, will have a minor impact on Apple. However, the factory is important in the long run as Apple strives to reduce its reliance on its Chinese supply chain in the face of trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.
