Trade union blasts Wistron violations following factory riot

An Indian trade union has said the state government turned a blind eye to labor violations and that workers had not been paid properly for four months, following a riot last week.

A violent riot broke out at a Wistron iPhone plant in Karnataka in southern India over allegations of unpaid wages and cut salaries. Cars were overturned and set alight, and glass was broken, damages are estimated to have run north of $6 million.

Now, an Indian trade union has accused state government of ignoring violations at the factory, stating workers had not been paid properly for four months. From Thomson Reuters:

A major Indian trade union on Thursday slammed Karnataka state for failing to take stern action against iPhone assembler Wistron and accused it of targeting the company's contract workers after a protest over salary payments turned violent.

The report says that "hundreds" of workers had been arrested following the disturbance. The national secretary of the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), Clifton D'Rozario, told the media at a press briefing that "the state government is going extremely soft on the company and turning a blind eye to all the violations at the facility." D'Rozario further accused the government in India of only caring about foreign investment, and that workers at the plant had not been paid properly for four months.

Apple is said to be investigating the incident, and an Indian body of manufacturers has called for justice against the perpetrators.