Foxconn plant:Dismal working conditions that fanned a stir

On the night of December 18, hundreds of workers of the Foxconn plant blocked the highway at Sriperumbudur, after over 200 workers at the factory fell ill and 159 people were admitted to the district hospital

Fifteen women in a room meant for five. A limit on the use of water, exceeding which the use of restrooms was banned, and unsanitary food that left 159 factory workers in hospital. These were the living conditions at the dormitories at a plant operated by Foxconn, a Taiwanese multinational electronics manufacturer in Sriperumbudur on the outskirts of Chennai, where iPhones are assembled.

Foxconn, which opened the plant in 2019 in Sriperumbudur on the outskirts of Chennai, has admitted to lapses in living conditions, and apologised. (REUTERS File)

Anger against these conditions burst into a protest that blocked the Chennai-Bengaluru highway for 8 hours in the middle of December, prompting the Tamil Nadu government to form an inspection team led by two ministers. The protest forced the tech giant Apple to issue a statement and put the facility on probation.

On the night of December 18, hundreds of workers of the Foxconn plant blocked the highway at Sriperumbudur, after over 200 workers at the factory fell ill and 159 people were admitted to the district hospital, after what the Thiruvallur district administration described as an outbreak of an “acute diarrhoeal disease.” But workers at the Foxconn plant told HT that this was only the latest instance of exploitative working and living conditions that caused the outpouring of anger.

A 21-year-old worker at the plant, who lived in one of the company’s dormitories, said, “In a room where more than five people can’t sleep, 15 of us sleep together on the floor. We stick to one another. Water is opened for us only one-and-a-half hours before our shift. If we don’t save water for later use, we cannot use the restrooms,” she said.

The worker, who did not want to be identified, said she earned ₹11,500 per month and paid ₹130 per month for the hostel and food. “Several others and I have had stomach pains and urinary tract infections before. They serve us food on time but very little. Some women stay hungry throughout the day. There have been worms in our food before and we sent photos to the supervisor, but no action was taken. If I ask for leave to go home because of a death, my supervisor will ask me to show video proof,” she said.

The 21-year-old was part of the protests against the living conditions and food poisoning, and has been home in her village in Tamil Nadu since the plant’s closure on December 18. She does not intend to return.

On December 26, an inspection team of the Tamil Nadu government, comprising of administration officials and led by two ministers TM Anbarasan and CV Ganesan, visited the hostel facilities where the mass food poisoning took place, and looked at the amenities. One of the two ministers said that they had conveyed their recommendations to the Foxconn Technology Group to “improve infrastructure.” “We have also asked for action to be taken against those responsible for food poisoning,” the minister said.

The government has asked the company to provide a minimum of four litres of drinking water per employee a day, provide water for bathing, increase washrooms to match the strength of the workforce, which is more than 15,000 employees out of which more than 10,000 are women, and provide inverters in case there are disruptions in power. “After we inspected the facilities, we have asked the management to not cram too many people in a room. They shouldn’t house more than five people in a 300 sq feet room and four people within a 250 sq ft room,” the minister said. The Foxconn management has agreed to comply, he said.

Foxconn, which opened the plant in 2019, has admitted to lapses in living conditions, and apologised. “The safety and well-being of our employees is our top priority. We are 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,” the Taiwanese company said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that they were also restructuring their management team. They have also assured all employees that they will continue to be paid during the time it is closed while improvements are being made before restarting operations.

An Apple spokesperson said that following the recent concerns about food safety and accommodation conditions at Foxconn, they have dispatched independent auditors to undertake additional detailed assessments. “We hold our suppliers accountable to the highest standards in the industry and regularly conduct assessments to ensure compliance,” the spokesperson said. “We found that some of the remote dormitory accommodations and dining rooms being used for employees do not meet our requirements and we are working with the supplier to ensure a comprehensive set of corrective actions are rapidly implemented. Foxconn’s Sriperumbudur facility has been placed on probation and we will ensure our strict standards are met before the facility reopens. We will continue to monitor conditions closely,” the Apple spokesperson said. There is no word from the two companies on when the factory will reopen.