iPhone production in India: “End forced labour”

Apple is increasingly relocating iPhone production to India. The new iPhone 14 is also to be manufactured there by the supplier Foxconn. Workers and trade unionists report extreme conditions.

“Away with the police!” shouted thousands of women who can be seen on recordings from mid-December – workers at Apple supplier Foxconn. At that time they blocked a highway between Chennai and Bangalore in southern India’s most important industrial zone in the state of Tamil Nadu. Traffic was paralyzed for hours and workers were finally getting attention, from local politicians to Apple in the US.

There was a reason for the protests at the time: More than 250 women suddenly had stomach problems and some had to be treated in hospital.

“Nobody could tell us what we had,” says a worker, who is to be called Abi here, looking back. “When we asked, they said it was food poisoning.”

Sparse accommodation

Abi has agreed to an interview, but only if she can remain anonymous. She has brought some colleagues with her, young women in their early 20s. They are sitting in a semicircle. Most have a smartphone in their hands. Abi talks about the sparse accommodation in former student dormitories.

Before the incident, she reports, they slept on the floor without anything. Now they would have “a bed, sheets and pillows. That’s fine.”

But the number of residents has not changed. Up to ten women shared a room and now slept in bunk beds. Now there is running water. Before, the women always had to get water from a water tank in front of the house.

Abi says the food is still bad. That’s why the workers sometimes skip meals and go to work like that – that hasn’t changed. But eating is a thing Basic need: “If the food isn’t right, how are we supposed to work?”

Female workers do not know rights

Foxconn, at the request of the ARD Studios New Delhi not reacted. The Taiwanese company is considered the world’s largest manufacturer of electronic parts. More than 5,000 women are assembling the iPhone 12 and 13 for the Apple supplier – in a suburb of Chennai in southeast India, a location for many international companies. The iPhone 14 will follow soon.

The workers are mostly young women from rural areas, recruited from subcontractors. They are often the first in their family to get a job in a factory, and they don’t know their rights. They work eight hours a day, spread over three shifts, six days a week, says Abi in broken English.

The women get the minimum wage of about 170 euros a month, a basic amount for social security and transport is deducted. Since the protests, Foxconn has been paying a little more – for board and lodging.

Long way to work

According to a local union, Foxconn takes them to shelters up to 60 kilometers from the factory, guarded by security guards. Abi confirms that. This means that many workers commute “up to two hours” to work and get too little sleep. It would be better if the hostels were close to the factory, she says.

This is exactly what the local trade union CITU demands. Kannan Soundarrajan, deputy general secretary, speaks of forced labor and exploitation of workers by Foxconn. The government of the state of Tamil Nadu did not control enough until the protests.

A special ordinance provides for such security measures as regular control of accommodation and meals.

Union calls for better contracts

The government, the trade unionist demands, should take the necessary steps “to end this forced labour”. The workers would have to be taken on in regular employment so that they would also receive bonus payments and be covered by social insurance. Because that is not provided for in their contract – they can be terminated at any time.

Soundarrajan sees the neoliberal policies of the central government under Prime Minister Modi behind this: With his “Make in India” initiative, which offers tax breaks, for example, he is attracting companies from all over the world. Foreign investments are desirable, but companies often do not comply with Indian labor law – and the authorities let them do so.

“It’s all about more and more profit,” states Soundarrajan. “We need employment, they need profit. That’s legal. But they mustn’t exploit more than they give.”

Industry association praises politics

According to Pankaj Mohindroo, President of the Indian Mobile Telecommunications Association, the Tamil Nadu government reacted quickly after the Foxconn protests and improved the situation for women workers. It is important to be “sensitive” to the needs of female workers in particular: “We need more of them, especially in electronics production.”

Because the market for smartphone production and thus the demand for more workers will increase quickly, the expert predicts. It is an important step for India to recruit a company as successful as Apple – especially in competition with China. Mohindroo calls the fact that Apple produces in India “a privilege”. Just like the fact that production has been increased in recent years.

A market with potential

The US company still exports the iPhone mainly to other countries. 850 million Indians currently own a smartphone, of which around three percent use an iPhone. But domestic sales could soon increase as well.

Foxconn worker Abi and her colleagues demand that they be treated with respect for their jobs. The main thing is their health. “We will only be able to work if we are well,” they say, and report that one worker faints every month. But if the food and accommodation are in order, “the rest will take care of itself.” And that’s all they expected.