A section of women workers at Foxconn’s plant in Sriperumbur staged a protest from Friday midnight concerned about the whereabouts of their colleagues who were convalescing in hospital because of food poisoning. The protesters alleged that the management did not give them correct update about the status of those admitted in hospital.
Minister of Labour Welfare and Skill Development C.V. Ganesan and Minister for MSME T.M. Anbarasan held talks with the protesters and assured them of necessary action, after which the protest was called off.
Kancheepuram Collector M. Aarthi told reporters that the protest was held due to a rumour spread through WhatsApp that two workers had died. The protest affected traffic on the busy Chennai-Bengaluru National Highway on Saturday morning.
According to an official release from Tiruvallur Collector Alby John, there was an outbreak of acute diarrhoeal disease (ADD) among the Foxconn employees staying in the International Maritime Academy at Pudhuchathiram village, Poonamalle Block, Tiruvallur district, after they had hostel food on December 15.
As many as 256 people were treated as outpatients and later 159 of them were admitted in the hospital. There were no deaths. Of the 159 patients, 155 were discharged on Saturday. Four patients were responding well to the treatment and were out of danger, the release said.
Meanwhile, Ms. Aarthi arranged for a video call between the protesters and two of the workers who were in hospital to scotch rumours about the situation. Later, the protest was called off.
She said a case had been booked against the hostel warden in Tiruvallur district and the administration had formed a team to investigate the issue. Ms. Aarthi said a team would be formed to check the food and whether basic infrastructure had been provided as per the norms in dormitories in the Kancheepuram district.
Although it was announced that the protest had been called off, a few workers protested near Oragadam in the evening and were picked up by the police.
Foxconn makes Apple iPhones and Amazon Firestick among other products in its factory near Chennai.
