Worker protests, mass illness lead Apple to put iPhone plant on probation

Apple has put a Foxconn manufacturing plant that makes iPhone 12s and is running trial production of the iPhone 13 on probation, Reuters reported today. The move comes after both Apple and Foxconn determined that some worker dorms and dining rooms failed to meet requirements.

Production at the plant in Sriperumbudur, India has already been halted for a week and a half. Apple placed a plant belonging to Wistron Corp., another one of its suppliers, on probation last year due to “unrest,” Reuters noted, and Wistron didn’t receive any new business from Apple during that period.

The Foxconn plant in question has been closed since December 18. Protests had broken out that week after 256 factory workers were treated for food poisoning, including 159 who were hospitalized. At the time, the local government described it as “an outbreak of acute diarrheal disease.”

There’s no expected reopening date as of yet, but one unnamed state government official said it may not reopen until January 3.The factory’s approximately 17,000 workers will be paid in the interim.

Taiwan-headquartered Foxconn is currently shuffling the factory’s local management team and working to make its facilities better, according to a spokesperson.

For its part, Apple has sent independent auditors to examine the dormitories in consideration of “recent concerns about food safety and accommodation conditions,” a spokesperson said.