Samsung workers will continue with their agitation till their demands are met, said A Soundararajan, State President, Centre of Indian Trade Union (CITU), and Honorary President of Samsung India Workers Union - CITU.
Friday marked the 19th day of the strike with nearly 500 workers sitting in a temporary shed about a km from the company’s factory at Sunguwarchatiram, 50 km west of Chennai.
They are demanding wage revision and the right to form a union. Both are genuine demands, Soundararajan told businessline, at the site of the strike.
‘Pressure from family’
When asked if the striking workers were feeling frustrated, Soundarajan said, they may have had such a feeling in the first two or three days. However, with 19 days over, they now have a strong will to fight. “They can’t go back to the factory without winning,” he said. There is pressure from the management and also from family members. But, the workers are firm, he said.
“At the Yamaha plant in Oragadam, we were on strike for 63 days. We have a union inside the factory now. It will be the same with Samsung,” he said.
Addressing the striking workers, Soundararajan said the management is quite adamant and are firm on their views. “Let’s not give up,” he said.
Scope for dialogue
Meanwhile, Anand Gopalan, representing Samsung India in the Madras High Court and the Kanchipuram District Court, made a short statement on the ongoing strike.
‘Samsung complies with all laws and regulations of India. Workers at Samsung’s factory in Tamil Nadu get all statutory benefits and their wages are higher than what is prescribed by the government,” he said.
“I want to inform you that the ongoing strike is illegal, because the conciliation process regarding the demands made by workers is in progress and the workers’ union is unregistered till today,” he said.
Under such circumstances, the management of Samsung India is justified in taking action on the striking workers. However, Samsung India management has been patient and is willing to negotiate with the workers directly for an amicable resolution of the dispute, the statement added.
“Samsung India management is willing to sit down with the workers, in the presence of officials of the labour department. The management has also conveyed its willingness to sign a long-term wage settlement with the workers. However, Samsung India management will negotiate only with our workers and not with a third party.”
Request to call off strike
“I am requesting the workers to call off the illegal strike, return to work, and come forward for negotiations with the objective of resolving all the differences in an amicable manner at the earliest,” said Gopalan.
With the festive season nearing, Samsung is ensuring that the strike at the Sriperumbudur consumer durable factory does not disrupt production. It is managing the show with the help of the 700-odd workers, who are not participating in the strike.
While around 1,100 of the company’s employees (out of a total of 1,800) are on 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.
As much as 50 per cent of the production was disrupted on day one of the strike, and the company managed to increase production to 60 per cent on day two. Through various initiatives, the production at the factory is now at 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.