It was closed last December after increasingly virulent demonstrations by employees, deeming their working conditions “unworthy”. But despite this fed up,the Foxconn factory, which produces iPhones on Indian territory for the international market, will reopen.
Based in Sriperumbudur, this factory is at the heart of a much bigger scandal, that of the treatment of employees by Apple subcontractors. And in this respect Foxconn finds a very special place. The firm is in fact one of the Apple brand's privileged partners, but the working conditions of its employees have always been debated.
These new demonstrations came in addition toa much bigger listof dissatisfied employees whose rights are not respected. But despite the multiplication of controversies, nothing seems to change or almost nothing. Foxconn continues to work for Apple, and the investigations carried out by the Cupertino firm never result in a breach of contract.
“Undignified” living conditions
So, a little over a month after the start of the riots, the Indian factory will reopen. Certainly a partial opening, only 500 employees will return to work out of the 17,000 in the factory, but the facts are there, the factory will resume service.
The cause of being fed up this time? Dormitories and dining rooms that do not meet the standards required by Apple, the Californian firm assured at the end of the year, while an investigation was still underway. For its part, Foxconn has made commitments to treat its employees better and give them more decent living conditions.
A situation that is getting dangerously worse
According to the latter's speech, more than 250 cases of food poisoning have occurred within the four walls of the factory in recent months. A situation which would have deteriorated significantly in the last weeks before the demonstrations.
For the moment, Foxconn has been quite discreet about the commitments that the firm would make in the future. But one thing is certain, internally everyone wants to restart this factory as quickly as possible, which mainly produces iPhone 12 and 13.
