A Taiwan-based company that supplies displays to Apple may pay more money to workers in China poisoned by chemicals while making touch-screen panels.
The company, which also supplies touch panels to HTC and Samsung Electronics, has already paid about 10 million yuan (€1.1 million) to 91 workers poisoned after dealing with the chemical N-hexane. Workers at a Wintek Group factory in Suzhou, China became ill in 2009 after using N-hexane to clean display panels.
"If they feel they need more compensation to be satisfied, then we're willing to discuss it case by case," Wintek Corp's chief financial officer Jay Huang said.
"Only a few" workers are seeking further payouts, with most having fully recovered or accepted compensation, he said.
Yesterday, it was reported that employees wrote to Apple chief executive Steve Jobs to appeal for help after the poisoning. Mr Huang said he had not heard of the letter.
Of the 137 workers affected by the poisoning, 56 still work for the company and the rest have left, Huang said. Some workers left after accepting compensation in accordance with local regulations that require the highest payouts for employees who can no
longer work, he said.
Apple considers the poisoning "a core violation" of worker safety, and required Wintek to stop using the chemical and provide evidence that it has been removed from production lines, the company said in its 2011 Apple Supplier responsibility report released earlier this month.
An Apple representative visited employees at the Wintek affiliate, United Win Technology, to listen to worker's demands, China Daily reported today, citing a worker named Hu Jie. Apple was unavailable for comment.
"This case happened a long time ago, so the impact is more short-term noise," said Kylie Huang, an analyst who rates Wintek and its competitor TPK Holding "outperform" at Macquarie Securities in Taipei. "I don't think Apple will take orders away from Wintek, though they may put pressure on the company to raise its standards."
Wintek shares dropped 4.4 per cent to NT$51.90 at the 1.30pm close of trading today in Taipei, the most since December 15th. The benchmark Taiex index lost 1.7 per cent and Taipei-based TPK, which also supplies touch-panels to Apple, dropped 1.8 per cent.
Bloomberg
