How Trade Unions Drove Away Apple From Chennai

[donganaaK]

How trade unions drove away Apple from Chennai

Rajesh Chandramouli, TNN Oct 17, 2014, 10.58AM IST

Tags:

• Trade unions|
• Nokia|
• iPhone|
• Chennai|
• Apple

•  

(Poor industrial relations,…)

CHENNAI: High-end iPhones and iPads might just have rolled off assembly lines in Sriperumbudur if a team that did a recce three years ago had been convinced that the business climate was conducive.

A combination of poor industrial relations, trade union activism and lack of political support for business enterprise forced Foxconn, the largest contract manufacturer for Apple, to locate its iPhone and iPad production in Brazil, cutting off the prospect of 80,000 direct jobs in the Chennai suburb.

"The 2007 launch of Apple's iPhone was a global hit. Foxconn was the contract manufacturer. In 2010-11, it did a preliminary study to make iPhones in India, but dropped the plan," an official involved in the early stage negotiations told TOI.

Foxconn, which entered India in 2006 to make phones and components for Nokia, instead set up a plant to supply Apple in Sao Paolo, Brazil, in 2011.

The Nokia plant went on to become the largest single manufacturing unit in the world, pumping out nearly 15 million phones a month. But last week, Nokia said it was suspending production at Sriperumbudur from November 1, a move that will change the course of the electronics manufacturing in the region.

Labour discord at the Nokia and Foxconn units from 2010 onwards gave them a scare. Foxconn also was apprehensive about the supply of more than 80,000 workers. "Foxconn was petrified of trade unionism. Further, senior management teams in Taiwan and China got a sense that the local government was not doing much to curb trade union activism and support industry," an official who worked for Foxconn said.

 

[sattipandu]

so sad, not really for for TN :)

 

but samething happened if bothsa hadn't fucked up VW 

 

AP would have been a manufacturing hub atleast the coastal belt

[donganaaK]

so sad, not really for for TN :)

 

but samething happened if bothsa hadn't ** up VW 

 

AP would have been a manufacturing hub atleast the coastal belt

 

+1 .... govt form chesina 14days ke scam chesadu item gadu

[laloothar]

can u sommariez in one sentence other than title

[vaade_veedu]

TN aa coimbatore side petti unte mallus andaru oka cheyyi vesevaru ga

[gargicau]

Incomplete report. Foxconn has had a bad rep ever since they landed in Chennai. Because of their labour practices.

 

Also they tried to play the newly elected AIADMK's union in 2011 to counter the DMK's union, and got their fingers burnt.

 

Its also unfair to expect no union trouble if you pay low salaries in a region where other medium to high skilled workers are paid minimum 25k per month. Foxconn is a shameful company to deal with, and they should think about shifting their operations to interiors of Africa if all they need was low cost labour.

 

Foxconn should've chosen AP/UP/Raj/Bihar, if TN politicians were particularly nasty towards them. :) They can't because its not a regional problem with TN. 

 

Infact TN has the best business climate in India, except the govt doesn't roll out red carpets like other govts do.

 

Also the contention that Nokia closing plant would change the ecosystem of electronics manufacturing in the region is a bit silly. Nokia wasn't a big player in Sriperumbudur and has consistently downgraded the operations for the past 4 yrs. No one there has any problems with Nokia closing down, except some employees who'll have to find a new job.

 

Remember Samsung also manufactures its stuff in chennai. Nokia can go f itself.

 

WTF do these aholes mean by "support to industry"? why can't they set up the factory in CBN's AP :)

 

Anyway when factory rules are liberalised, TN will be the biggest gainer. All the politicians who were "not supporting" towards industry will suddenly not matter anymore.

 

TN has something the rest of states don't. Infra and skilled labour in these sectors. It'll be a long time before other states catch up.