Apple puts India iPhone plant ‘on probation’ after mass food poisoning

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Apple said Wednesday it has put the Indian plant of its main supplier “on probation” after a mass food poisoning and protests over workers’ living conditions.

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Some 250 women working at Foxconn’s iPhone factory in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu were treated for food poisoning this month, 159 of whom were hospitalised.

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This prompted demonstrations against living conditions at company hostels that have kept the factory at Sriperumbudur near Chennai closed since December 18.

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Apple said it has placed the plant “on probation” and is working with the supplier to rapidly implement “a comprehensive set of corrective actions”.

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The factory employs some 17,000 people. It makes iPhones for the Indian market and for export, as well as other gadgets.

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Foxconn said it was “very sorry for the issue our employees experienced and are taking immediate steps to enhance the facilities and services we provide at the remote dormitory accommodations.”

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“We are also restructuring our local management team and our management systems to ensure we can achieve and maintain the high standards that are needed,” a Foxconn spokesperson said.

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The Taipei-based company said employees will continue to be paid while improvements are made.

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Apple has long faced criticism about the treatment of workers at its partner factories in China, particularly after a spate of suicides at the industrial park of Foxconn in Shenzhen in 2010.

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