A talk between the striking employees of Samsung India and the company on Friday evening was inconclusive as over 500 workers stayed away from work for the fifth day in a row. The deadlock continues between the striking employees and the company’s management over the right to form union and wage revision.
Under the banner Samsung India Workers Union and backed by labour union CITU, the workers sat under a temporary shed about a km from the plant at Sunguvarchatram, near Chennai, demanding wage revision and the right to form a union.
E Muthu Kumar, President, Samsung India Workers Union - CITU, told businessline that during the talks, the company officials wanted to leave aside the issue of union formation. However, this was unacceptable as it was the main issue and cannot be compromised, he said.
First in history
Production has been significantly affected, claimed the striking workers. This is the first strike in the history of the 16-year-old plant that manufactures various consumer durables, including ACs, refrigerators and washing machines.
A representative of the strike workers said during the meeting on Friday, company officials told them that they would take up the issues with the management. “We will continue the strike and go to the State government with our demands on Monday,” he added.
The plant employs around 1,700 workers and the wages of these workers are less than the wages of some industrial workers. “For 16 years, these workers have been without a registered union, but the management’s attitude, prudishness, abusive practices and workload have prompted the workers to form a union,” a strike notice said.
Workers claimed that the company has deployed hundreds of casual labourers and apprenticeships to keep the factory running. The production is just around 25 per cent, they claimed.