iPhone Chennai plant protest in 6 points: Know why production is halted

iPhone Chennai plant protest: Here’s everything you need to know about the Foxconn plant protest by workers.

iPhone Chennai plant protest: Foxconn has currently suspended production of the iPhones at its Chennai plant.  (AFP)

The iPhone manufacturing plant in Chennai witnessing protests has been the big news this week, with most prominent headline being Apple suspending operations at the plant. Foxconn is one of Apple's many contract manufacturers and has a plant in Sriperumbudur, just outside of Chennai in Tamil Nadu. The current protest led by women workers at the plant are related to inhospitable conditions that the workers have to endure at the facility.

The protest flamed up when 250 women workers had suffered from food poisoning at living facilities near the plant on December 17. Following the protest, Apple has put the Foxconn plant on probation and suspended operations. Both the parties haven't revealed when the production would resume but it would only happen when the improvements have been implemented. 

iPhone plant protests: All you need to know

-The protests have taken place at the Foxconn plant located in Sriperumbudur, a small town on the outskirts of Chennai, Tamil Nadu. 

-The protests are held by women workers at the plant after they were cases of 250 workers suffering from food poisoning. 

-The issue was related to the accommodation standards provided Venpa Staffing Services, who provides the dorm rooms for the Foxconn plant workers. 

-Following the protest, Apple has also put the Foxconn plant under probation. The plant has currently suspended production of the iPhone smartphones. “Following recent concerns about food safety and accommodation conditions at Foxconn Sriperumbudur, we dispatched independent auditors,” said an Apple spokesperson. “We found that some of the remote dormitory accommodations and dining rooms being used for employees do note meet our requirements and we are working with the supplier to ensure a comprehensive set of corrective actions are rapidly implemented,”

-A report from Reuters quotes an unnamed worker saying, “People living in the hostels always had some illness or the other — skin allergies, chest pain, food poisoning," said a 21-year-old woman who quit the plant after the protest. "We didn't make a big deal out of it because we thought it will be fixed. But now, it affected a lot of people," she said. Another one said that the dorm houses up to 30 women who slept on the floor and toilets running without water.

-The Foxconn Chennai plant manufactures most of the older iPhone models, including the iPhone 12, iPhone 11, and iPhone XR. The plant is gearing up for the production of the iPhone 13 in a bid to ramp up local production and boost availability.