Angry workers complaining about the non-payment of wages for
months smashed equipment and iPhone models on Saturday at the Wistron plant,
about 50 km from the tech hub of Bengaluru, costing the company millions of
dollars in damage and forcing it to shut the site.
An audit of the factory, hours after the rampage, found
"several labour law violations", the labour department in Karnataka
state's Kolar district, where the factory is located, said in its report.
Wistron, one of Apple's top global contract manufacturers,
did not respond to a request for comment on the report, which has not been made
public.
Apple, which is conducting its own audit to find whether
Wistron violated supplier guidelines, also did not respond to a request for comment.
The labour office said Wistron did not maintain proper
employment and appointment details of their workers and staff who worked in
12-hour shifts at the Kolar plant were not paid for overtime.
The company did not keep up salary and attendance records as
required by law, and contract staff were unhappy about non-payment of wages for
extra work hours, the office said, adding that Wistron failed to submit these
records on demand.
The report also named three of Wistron's manpower providers,
Creative Engineers, Quess, and Addeco India, for exceeding hiring quotas
permitted under government rules.
Quess and Addeco did not immediately respond to a request
for comment and Creative Engineers could not be reached.
The inspection also found that a glitch in an attendance
machine or software had led to worker complaints of not getting full wages owed
to them.
"This was brought to the notice of the management, and
this was not addressed," the office said.
The investigation, though initial, confirmed the grievances
of workers at the plant, half a dozen of whom were interviewed by Reuters.
The auditors asked Wistron to submit to the labour office
some documents within three days. It was not clear if Wistron complied with the
request.
The Karnataka state government said this week it would help
Wistron re-start operations and address workers' concerns.
It also did not comment on the findings of the report.
Trade unions though have criticised the state for
"going soft" on the company and failing to empathise with staff who
worked in "sweatshop-like conditions".
The episode is a blow to Wistron's local manufacturing push
and dents Apple's reputation in a key growth market.
© Reuters