The workers’ union at the Nokia factory near Chennai does not yet know the details of the deal, according to A. Soundararajan, Honorary President of the union.
But as along as workers are not affected, the global transaction is not a concern, he said.
The Nokia India Thozhilalar Sangam is an independent union led by Soundararajan, General Secretary, Centre of Indian Trade Unions, Tamil Nadu. The Nokia union has entered into a long-term wage settlement with the management. The agreement is effective up to 2015, he said. The manufacturer does not divulge details of the production capacity. Sources say that at peak production, its output was around 12 million pieces a month and there has been a steep drop in recent months.
On Tuesday, Nokia India made a general announcement to the workers that the transaction may take over six months and that the workforce will not be affected, said sources in the know.
The factory, which is Nokia’s largest globally, is located at Sriperumbudur, an industrial hub west of Chennai, on a 200-acre Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Over half a dozen of Nokia’s dedicated vendors have also taken space at the SEZ.
At the Nokia factory, nothing much seems to have changed since the deal with Microsoft.
Company buses transport employees past the gates, so it’s almost impossible to meet any workers here, let alone officials. On a good day, if you ask to visit the factory, you would politely be refused entrance. On Tuesday, nobody inside was answering the phone. Overnight, a wall has come up between the company and the rest of the world. Business Line managed to speak to Radhika, a shop floor worker. She said nobody has heard about a change in management.
According to official sources, the Nokia factory employs over 7,000, including trainees.
Nokia entered into an MoU with the Tamil Nadu Government in April 2005 to set up the production facility here and the factory was commissioned in January 2006 at the industrial estate developed by the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu.
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