iPhone factory workers say they haven’t been paid, cause millions in damages(arstechnica.com)
arstechnica.com
iPhone factory workers say they haven’t been paid, cause millions in damages
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/12/worker-protests-at-indian-iphone-factory-causes-up-to-7-million-in-damages/?comments=1
16 comments
I wonder how long until Apple installs permanent auditors, etc and institutes the random audits they employ in China.
> While an engineering graduate was promised Rs 21,000 ($286) per month
There is no way this is the correct amount, is there? Less than $10/day for an engineering graduate??
Checking... it's low, but maybe not impossible. [Glassdoor](https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/india-graduate-engineer-t...) says ~$460 / month. I'm absolutely astounded at how this is possible.
There is no way this is the correct amount, is there? Less than $10/day for an engineering graduate??
Checking... it's low, but maybe not impossible. [Glassdoor](https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/india-graduate-engineer-t...) says ~$460 / month. I'm absolutely astounded at how this is possible.
Things are a lot cheaper, there. $1 goes a lot further in India than it does in the US.
things are indeed a lot cheaper.
but Rs21,000 is below the bottom of the barrel for engineering graduate.
Rs 25,000($340) per month would be bottom of the barrel, with Rs 50,000 ($680) per month a decent amount for engineering graduate.
Source: Am engineering graduate from india
but Rs21,000 is below the bottom of the barrel for engineering graduate.
Rs 25,000($340) per month would be bottom of the barrel, with Rs 50,000 ($680) per month a decent amount for engineering graduate.
Source: Am engineering graduate from india
Is that the going rate for the area where this factory is? In the US pay varies wildly by geographic location. Someone in Silicon Valley can easily make 5-10x as much as someone doing the exact same work in the middle of Iowa, for example.
when i say "bottom of the barrel" i mean literally the bottom. Anything less is exploitation and abuse, the article says it is located in industrial area [1] near bengaluru, which is one of the major cities of india.
I don't think location should play a negative role here, as factory is located in industrial area, where engineering grads would really not prefer going without a premium (or desperation as is the case here)
If anything, sheer proximity to bengaluru should drive salaries up.
the general verdict here is that the company was offering piss poor salaries to desperate students, and then decided to go lower.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narasapura_Industrial_Area
I don't think location should play a negative role here, as factory is located in industrial area, where engineering grads would really not prefer going without a premium (or desperation as is the case here)
If anything, sheer proximity to bengaluru should drive salaries up.
the general verdict here is that the company was offering piss poor salaries to desperate students, and then decided to go lower.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narasapura_Industrial_Area
Engineering means he did his Bachelors in Technology from any college, not a good one, or a popular one.
And there are so many engineering colleges here in india, you can get into them irrespective of your skills, knowledge, or financial status.
And there are so many engineering colleges here in india, you can get into them irrespective of your skills, knowledge, or financial status.
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INR 21K is drastically underpaid even here, but sadly on par with the quality of most "engineering" "colleges" and "degrees".
This is not surprising at all. I was at an Indian firm a while back and due to arcane labor laws, we did not want to hire a network engineer but needed one to work with some Cisco equipment we were getting. We agreed to pay Cisco about $1000/month for 2 years to have an engineer on their books but placed at our firm. When the engineer was actually placed I learned from someone that he was being paid ~$100/month so Cisco was skimming about 90% of what we paid for him.
> When the engineer was actually placed I learned from someone that he was being paid ~$100/month so Cisco was skimming about 90% of what we paid for him.
Not exactly. These are contract employees.
How it works is that corporates often have tie-ups with certain HR firms to provide them employees with certain skills, on demand. Depending on the requirement, these tech employees work remotely or on-site, but on the payroll of the middle-man HR firm.
So when you ask Cisco for a network engineer, they contact these HR firms and send them the requirement. The HR firm sends a list of candidates, and Cisco selects the most-suited one. This person is then sent to you. But they are not paid by Cisco as they are not really a Cisco employee. Cisco pays the HR firms a fixed contract rate and the HR firm pays a percentage of that to the worker.
Cisco definitely skims some of the money, but a large portion of it does go to these kind of contract HR firms.
Not exactly. These are contract employees.
How it works is that corporates often have tie-ups with certain HR firms to provide them employees with certain skills, on demand. Depending on the requirement, these tech employees work remotely or on-site, but on the payroll of the middle-man HR firm.
So when you ask Cisco for a network engineer, they contact these HR firms and send them the requirement. The HR firm sends a list of candidates, and Cisco selects the most-suited one. This person is then sent to you. But they are not paid by Cisco as they are not really a Cisco employee. Cisco pays the HR firms a fixed contract rate and the HR firm pays a percentage of that to the worker.
Cisco definitely skims some of the money, but a large portion of it does go to these kind of contract HR firms.
I paid quite a bit of money for my iPhone. If none of that got back to the people who made it, I would certainly like to know the reason why. It is not my policy to stiff people for their work.
Look no further: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/30/apple-q3-cash-hoard-heres-ho....
As I said a several times before, communist labour unions are very powerful in India. Most of them are backed by the communist parties who have CCP patronage.
If by CCP you mean the Chinese Communist Party, that's bullshit propaganda. But it is true that they used to enjoy the patronage from the former USSR with whom India did have a friendly relationship.
Workers riot at Indian iPhone factory after going 'four months without pay and being asked to work extra shifts' https://archive.is/dHNVJ