Union Minister of Labour Mansukh Mandaviya has written a letter to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin, regarding the ongoing workers’ strike at the Sriperumbudur plant of Samsung Electronics. Mandaviya urged the State government to intervene for an early and amicable resolution for maintaining a positive manufacturing sector ecosystem. He also assured full support from the Ministry to help the State in resolving the matter efficiently, says a release.
Out of the total 1,800 employees, around 1,100 workers are on a strike from September 9 seeking wage revision and the right to form a union.
The Korean major is managing the show at the Sriperumbudur consumer durable factory with the help of the 700-odd workers who are not participating in the strike. Apart from making use of those who are not participating in the strike, the company has also managed to deploy another 500 workers — apprentices, contract labourers and staff from other departments such as logistics and quality control, sources have told businessline.
Production hit
Production was disrupted by 50 per cent on the first day of the strike, and the company managed to increase production to 60 per cent on Day Two. Through various measures, the production at the factory is now 85-90 per cent and will be 100 per cent later this week, said sources.
In FY23, Samsung’s revenue from home appliances and televisions sales (goods produced in the Chennai factory) was around ₹19,000 crore, according to documents submitted with the Registrar of Companies. Last week, the company issued a show-cause notice, which said the workers were on “an illegal strike” from September 9, 2024.
The management proposes to impose 8-day wage duty. “It is needless to mention that you shall not be entitled to wages from September 9, 2024 to the date you report back to work, on ’No Work, No Pay’ policy’ basis,” the company said in its show-cause notice to the striking workers. “If you fail to report to work within four days from the date of receipt of this notice, you are directed to show cause within seven days from the date of receipt of this notice why you should not be dismissed from service,” the notice said.
After the show-cause notice was issued, 70-80 striking employees reported back to work, sources said.
The company management is hopeful that more workers would return to work in the coming days. “We are committed to resolving all issues including wages, benefits and working conditions by negotiating with our workers directly, and we urge them to return back to work at the earliest,” a company statement said.
“At our Chennai factory, full-time employees make up the majority of our total workforce, which we believe is the highest level compared with other manufacturers in the region. Moreover, the average tenure of our manufacturing workforce is more than 10 years, which underscores the satisfaction our workers have in working for the company,” the statement said.