Foxconn plant near Chennai to remain shut following protests

The Foxconn plant, which manufactures Apple’s iPhones, near Chennai will remain shut this week following protests over food poisoning. Over 250 workers had fallen ill after they consumed food provided at the company’s hostel. Protests broke out as workers became frustrated due to lack of communication from Foxconn.

According to a statement by Alby John, the Tiruvallur District Collector, 256 workers had Acute Diarrhoeal Disease on December 15. “Of these, 159 had been hospitalized, while the others were treated as outpatients at different hospitals.”

The Superintendent of Police in Kancheepuram, as per a Reuters report, says five days of holiday has been declared at the plant. On Friday, thousands of protesters had occupied a stretch of busy Chennai-Bengaluru National Highway from 10pm. Vehicles had to be diverted to interior roads. The Kancheepuram arrested 80 people, including 63 workers.

According to local media reports, they were booked for unlawful gathering, preventing uniformed personnel from discharging duty, and public nuisance. Moreover, an FIR has also been filed on the food poisoning and investigations are being done.

The protest turned ugly with the protesters demanding information about their eight colleagues who have been hospitalized. Rumors had spread that some may have died. A Foxconn employee told The New Indian Express that things escalated as the person in charge of accommodation threatened them. “That is when we left the facility and marched to the national highway demanding information,” he said. The male workers residing at a facility at Walajabad staged a road roko along the Oragadam – Walajabad. As such, the police detained over 100 men, mostly migrant laborers. The women protesters alleged that company officials failed to meet them despite 12-hours of protest.

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Meanwhile, Apple plans to bring the assembly of its iPad tablet to India, which is presently being manufacturers in Mexico and Vietnam. The American company is trying to reduce their reliance on China amid Sino-US tensions. Apple is expected to begin commercial production of the model in India for both the domestic market and exports by February.