iPhone Maker Foxconn India Workers Stage Protest After 150 Hospitalised For Food Poisoning

Police detained scores of people for blocking key Chennai-Bengaluru highway for several hours during the protest.

Chennai: Hundreds of workers of Foxconn Technology India Pvt Ltd, which makes iPhones for Apple Inc, staged a protest on a highway demanding to know the status of colleagues who were affected by food poisoning earlier this week. Police detained scores of people for blocking key Chennai-Bengaluru highway for several hours during the protest, a police official told news agency Reuters on Sunday.

“Nearly 70 women and 22 men have been detained since Saturday for blocking highway,” the official said.

About 14,000 men and women are employed in the Foxconn Technology unit that makes electronic components, iPhones for Apple and others. Many of the women workers are staying in the nearby dormitories, reported news agency IANS.

According to the workers, on Wednesday more than 150 employees at Foxconn’s production unit were hospitalised after a bout of food poisoning at Foxconn’s dormitories, where a majority of its staff lives. The affected workers were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment and some were admitted.

According to the workers, the management did not give any proper answer when queried about the health condition of their colleagues who were admitted to the hospital.

On Friday night, the women workers squatted on the highway disrupting the traffic. The protest continued on Saturday morning as well and government officials are talking with the protesters.

Foxconn did not immediately respond to a request for comment, said Reuters’ report.

(With inputs from Agencies)