A Flex facility in India (Source: Flex)
Workers at the Indian plant of Apple supplier Flex staged a one-day strike over pay, conditions, and the firm's refusal to recognize a union.
Flex makes chargers for Apple and while not the best-known of the Cupertino firm's suppliers, it is a huge multinational corporation employing 172,000 worldwide. Its Tamil Nadu plant alone employs a total of 4,000 people.
According to Reuters, that 4,000 is a mixture of staff and contract workers. Under Indian law, contractors cannot be used for what are described as core activities, and they did not join the strike.
It's not clear how many staff did, but the report claims it was in the hundreds. Also, 750 have joined the Center of Indian Trade Union, despite Flex not recognizing it.
"As house rents, education fees and other expenses have increased," the union told Flex in a letter seen by Reuters, "it is not possible to sustain a livelihood with the current salary." The strike follows what this letter describes as the workers and Flex being unable to reach an amicable resolution over wage increases.
While officially a one-day strike, union secretary E. Muthukumar said that workers will return to the factory for the day's third and final shift.
The strike at the plant in Tamil Nadu comes after the region's government announced a $1.5 billion investment in iPhone manufacturing from international technology firms.
