Employees at a Samsung Electronics factory in southern India’s Tamil Nadu state are set to continue their month-long strike after rejecting a settlement offer from the management of the facility.
Tensions erupted on Wednesday around the site at Sunguvarchathram, on the outskirts of the state capital, Chennai, where workers have been carrying out a sit-in protest under a makeshift tent. Police arrested around ten representatives of the labor union and dismantled the tent. The incident came a day after political leaders, including those of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party, visited the site to support the workers.
Tamil Nadu Industries Minister T.R.B. Rajaa on Tuesday requested that employees of the plant return to work. He assured them that their union would be recognized after a court verdict, and that the state government would support them.
The protesters are part of the Samsung India Workers Union-Centre of Indian Trade Unions (SIWU-CITU). The union was formed in July but has not been recognized by the company, even though Indian labor law mandates registration of a union within 45 days of its formation.
The protest, which involves a group of over 1,500 people, was called to demand recognition of the labor union, a three-year salary increase, and better working hours, as RT reported earlier. The average monthly salary of a full-time worker is about 25,000 Indian rupees ($300), and the union is demanding staggered raises, to 36,000 rupees ($431) within three years.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that Samsung had offered to provide a monthly incentive of 5,000 rupees ($60) until March, more air-conditioned buses, a diversified cafeteria menu, and gift cards of $24 for employees who have newborn children. However, CITU, the labor organization backing the protests, rejected the agreement as it fails to recognize their union.
The factory, which produces television sets, washing machines, and refrigerators, accounts for one third of Samsung’s 12 billion rupees ($144 million) in Indian revenue. The plant is one among two in India, the other being in Noida, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
The strike is seen as the largest labor unrest in the country in recent years, although Tamil Nadu, one of India’s largest industrial hubs, is known for labor disputes involving international manufacturing giants. The ongoing strike casts a shadow on the efforts of both state and federal government to attract more foreign investors to the country. The state is headed by chief minister M K Stalin, who recently traveled to the US, where he inked investment agreements worth 70 billion rupees (over $830 million). The deals were secured with 18 companies, covering both the expansion of existing operations and new greenfield projects.
