In one of the biggest workers’ strikes in recent years in India, over a thousand workers of Samsung are on strike since September 9 asking the company to recognize their union, raise wages and reduce working hours.
Groundxero | September 22, 2024
More than 1000 workers in Samsung home appliances factory in Sriperumbudur near the city of Chennai (Tamil Nadu) are on strike since September 9 in protest against low wages, poor working conditions, intimidation and humiliation from management and the management’s attempts to form a ‘company union’ as against recognising the union formed by the workers affiliated to CITU, namely Samsung India Workers Union-Centre of Indian Trade Unions (SIWU-CITU). The Sriperumbudur plant of Samsung employs roughly 1,800 workers, and over 1000 of them are on strike. The factory makes appliances such as refrigerators, TVs and washing machines. The striking workers have set up a makeshift tent close to Samsung’s plant and are continuing with their protest.
Samsung workers are earning 25,000 rupees on average per month, according to central trade union CITU that has helped mobilise the workers. The workers are demanding a raise of 36,000 rupees over three years. The Samsung management has refused to recognize any workers’ union backed by a national trade union body like CITU. Workers’ Unity (WU) Tamil has been covering the strike since it began. In an interview to WU, CITU District secretary Muthukumar said:
“Two months ago, workers in the Samsung factory formed a union under CITU. The union presented workers’ demands and attempted to talk to the management. In response, the management resorted to tactics of suppressing the workers, such as denying them leave, transfers, forcing overtime and threats. The management even reached out to the workers’ families to intimidate them and make them leave the union. It started an outright war against the union on the factory floor. At this point, when the workers tried to register the union, the management obstructed the union registration by adopting various delaying tactics, such as objecting to the use of ‘Samsung’ in the name of the union. When pressed on the matter of workers’ demands, the management asked for more time to consult with their bosses in South Korea, which the workers agreed to. But in the meantime, the management formed a committee [as against the union] and forced workers to sign to become members of the committee. Workers who refused to sign were intimidated, those who questioned the management’s actions were locked in a room for two days. There were open threats of violence against workers belonging to the union. In response, the workers decided to go on strike, since it was a choice between facing violence at work or peacefully going on strike. 95% of production has been halted since then.”
The current strike, one of the biggest workers’ strikes in India in recent times, has significantly halted production in the plant that contribute about one-third of Samsung India’s annual revenue of $12 billion. The strike puts a question mark on PM Modi’s plan to court foreign investors to the flagship ‘Make in India’ program and triple electronics production to $500 billion in six years. Responding to the alarm raised by the corporate media in this regard, CITU leader Muthukumar said “This is happening clearly at the cost of severe exploitation of Indian workers, denying them their constitutional rights to organise and various other labour rights.”
Tall claims of growth and welfare by the corporate and the government are outright hypocrisies for workers such as those in Samsung, who toil for an average monthly salary of Rs 25,000 even as inflation keep on rising. The workers in the plant are severely humiliated for minor mistakes through verbal abuses, threats and even detention in solitary empty rooms – said some of the striking workers.
In response to the strike, Samsung has further intensified threats and intimidation. More than a 100 workers were detained by the police on September 16 during a protest rally from Theradi to the District collector’s office, even though prior police permission was sought by the workers on September 13 for the rally. CITU leader Muthukumar’s cell phone and scooter were confiscated by the police, and they even tried to arrest him on ‘preventive’ grounds.
Last week, the company moved a district court seeking temporary injunction to restrain workers from raising slogans and giving speeches in and around the factory. But on September 19 the judge called for a swift resolution of the dispute through negotiation. The next day, the company HR team send e-mail to some striking workers, saying the workers were engaging in an “illegal strike”, and they will not be entitled to wages for the period of the strike. The email stated: “You shall not be entitled to wages from 09.09.2024 to the date you report back to work on ‘No work No Pay’ basis.” It threatened that the workers who will not join work within a few days will be terminated. The company has also allegedly tried to bribe workers away from the union and break the strike by promises of bonus and other benefits. Meanwhile Samsung’s shares prices kept falling as the strike continued after talks fell through.
The key demands of the striking workers include three-year salary increase to Rs 36,000 (70% in 2024, 15% 2025, 15% in 2026), recognition of the union, provision of Rs 500 annual service weightage, increasing shift allowance from Rs 150 to Rs 250, extending parental leave from 3 to 7 days and equalising pay for workers with the same qualifications and duties. These demands were presented earlier to Samsung management on July 11 this year.
Sriperumbudur is increasingly becoming a hotbed for militant workers’ protest, just like the rest of the industrial areas in India. The neoliberal economic policy of Indian rulers has failed its working class. “Pre-liberalisation, the consumer market had limits. Now, with increased buying through loans and market expansion, companies seek ways to boost production, sometimes illegally by violating labour laws. Alternatively, they hire numerous casual workers at low wages, denying them the benefits given to permanent employees”, stated CITU leader Muthukumar’s to Frontline. Indeed, Samsung’s prohibition of workers’ union is a violation of Trade Union Act, 1926, Industrial Dispute Act, 1947, and ILO Conventions No. 87 and 98.
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