Samsung Workers Strike in Tamil Nadu Draws Global Attention
Date
9/28/2024 7:52:38 AM
(MENAFN) A small town in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has captured global attention as nearly 1,500 workers at a Samsung Electronics India plant have been participating in a labor strike, compelling the world’s largest electronics manufacturer to come to the negotiating table.
Workers have been on strike for almost three weeks at Kancheepuram, on the outskirts of the state capital Chennai. Their demands include recognition of their union, collective bargaining rights, a three-year salary increase, and better hours.
The average monthly salary of a full-time worker is about 25,000 Indian Rupees (USD300 Dollars), and the union is demanding staggered raises, to reach 36,000 Rupees (USD431 Dollars) in three years.
Union Power
The protesting workers are part of the Samsung India Workers Union-Centre of Indian Trade Unions (SIWU-CITU). Samsung’s Kancheepuram facility, which produces television sets, washing machines, and refrigerators, accounts for one third of the company’s 12 billion Rupees (USD144 million Dollars) in Indian revenue. The plant is one among two in India, the other being in Noida, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
Samsung India Electronics has never had a union since production at the Kancheepuram facility began in 2007. The SIWU-CITU was formed in July 2024 and still awaits registration and company recognition, even though the Trade Union Act under Indian labor law mandates registration of a union within 45 days of its formation.
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