Dec 29, 2021: Iphone maker, Apple said on Wednesday it had “put its main supplier’s Indian plant on probation” following widespread protests over food poisoning and workers’ living conditions.

About 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 hospitalized. It sparked protests against the living conditions in the company’s hostels, which have been shutting down the factory at Sriprabamadur near Chennai since December 18.

Apple has said it is keeping the plant “on probation” and is working with suppliers to expedite the implementation of “a comprehensive set of corrective measures.”

The factory employs about 17,000 people. It makes iPhone for Indian market and export as well as other gadgets. Foxconn said: “Our employees are very sorry for this problem and they are taking immediate steps to enhance the facilities and services we provide in remote hostels.” A Foxconn spokesman said: “We are reorganizing our local management team and our management system to ensure that we can achieve and maintain the high standards that are needed.”

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

Tech giant 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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