Samsung Workers in Sriperumbudur near Chennai in India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu have been on strike for over two weeks, withstanding threats from management and attacks by the security forces. According to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) out of the 1,800 total employees in the factory, over 1,300 have been participating in the strike led by the Samsung India Workers Union (SIWU).
Workers are demanding wage revisions and increases, better working conditions, and recognition of their union SIWU, which has been delayed due to objections raised by the company.
The protest started at Echoor, at least a kilometer away from the Samsung plant at Sriperumbudur on September 9 after management failed to respond to the strike notice served by the workers in August.
The Samsung India Electronics Private Limited was established in 2007, and has operated without a union since then. The factory in Sriperumbudur is one of the two factories Samsung has in India. The factory makes Samsung’s electronic appliances.
Workers have complained of mistreatment and discrimination by the management. The factory presently has a nine hour workday and SIWU has demanded it be reduced to eight hours. They are also demanding a raise in various allowances and the equalization of wages for workers with the same qualifications and duties. Workers at the factory have also raised the issue of not being permitted to properly use their sanctioned leaves from work.
CITU, one the largest trade union organizations in India with over four million members, claims that Samsung has failed to address the basic demands of their workers, including concerns over low wages. CITU claims that the company spends less than 0.3% of its total annual production value on labor costs.
The workers highlight that even after a decade of experience at the plant, most of the workers earn less than Rs 30,000 (USD 359) per month, not enough to cover their basic needs and the cost of living.
The SIWU was formed in July 2023, with over 1,400 workers of the unit. E Muthukumr, the union’s president, claims the membership has now increased to over 1,700. However, its registration was delayed after an objection was raised by Samsung management. The management objects to the company’s name being used in the name of the union.
The delay is more than double the stipulated time limit of 45 days set up to process such applications under the Indian union act. Management has refused to talk to the union and objected to its registration. Instead, it has forced some workers to become members of a “workers committee” constituted by management. It has conducted some talks with the committee which, SIWU claims, has no legal validity.
Samsung uses threats to break the strike
On September 16, over 100 SIWU workers were detained by police after attempting to march to the district collectors office in support of their demand for registration of the union.
On Monday, management claimed more workers joined the workforce. However, according to the SIWU, 80% of production at the factory has been impacted due to the strike.
After failing to win over the workers utilizing tactics such as sending gifts, last week, Samsung management sent a notice to workers invoking its “no work, no pay” stance. However, workers have claimed that management cannot declare their strike illegal and withhold their wages as the call for the strike is in line with the law.
The workers had presented their demands to management in July, and after they failed to get a positive response, they gave the notice for their strike in August, as required by law.
Several other unions have extended support to Samsung workers.
Sriperumbudur is an industrial town near the capital Chennai. CITU claims the delay caused by the Samsung management to address the genuine demands of the workers has already stirred workers in other nearby factories, as they have held solidarity gate meetings last week.
The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) in South Korea, which conducted Samsung’s first ever strike in July has extended its support to the demands raised by striking workers in the Tamil Nadu plant
Soundarajan, president of the Tamil Nadu section of CITU, questioned the arrest of workers by the police last week, asserting that forming a union is not a crime. Talking to the press, he warned that if the government does not change its stance on the issue of unionization at Samsung, CITU will launch a statewide movement against it.
The state government has initiated a reconciliation between the union and the management on Tuesday, September 24. A CITU leader told Peoples Dispatch that they are hopeful that Samsung management will agree to the union’s demands.