Foxconn’s problem iPhone factory in India is set to open up again. You remember the one - scene of some serious food poisoning, which led to hospitalizations, which led to protests, which led to arrests, all of which led to Apple investigating the factory, which led to the company finding overcrowded living quarters, toilets with no running water, and - according to one village-level administrator, “no safeguards to prevent COVID-19 infections,” all of which led to Apple putting the plant on probation. An Apple spokesperson said at the time that the company was “working with the supplier to ensure a comprehensive set of corrective actions are rapidly implemented,” and “rapidly” was apparently the key word. Well, a key word. Hopefully “corrective” was the key word.
Fingers crossed. 9 to 5 Mac cites a Reuters report that says, after two-weeks dark, the Foxconn facility is firing up again today. Not that everything is hunky-dory. The plant is still on probation as far as Apple’s concerned. The Reuters report says reopening will go slow, with no more than 100 folks back in action. Full tilt, the plant employs about 17,000 people. The piece has Apple saying in a statement that workers “will start to return gradually as soon as [Apple is] certain [its] standards are being met in every dormitory and dining area,” hence the hundred-people to start back. Someone said to know something about something tells Reuters, it could take the plant “more than two months to resume full production.” For its part, Foxconn is quoted in the piece, saying:
We have implemented a range of corrective actions to ensure this cannot happen again and a rigorous monitoring system to ensure workers can raise any concerns they may have, including anonymously.
