Chennai: Workers at Samsung’s manufacturing unit in Sriperumbudur in the Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu, have gone on strike once again. This time they are protesting the suspension of three employees who are members of the state government-recognised Samsung India Workers’ Union (SIWU).
Speaking to ThePrint, SIWU general secretary E. Muthukumar said the three SIWU members—two joint secretaries and a vice-president—were suspended for requesting a meeting with the company’s managing director.
“This suspension is illegal. Just asking for a meeting with the MD of the company cannot be termed unlawful. This is one of the many attempts by the company to defame the union that was recognised by the state government after months of struggle,” Muthukumar said.
The SIWU is backed by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU). The strike comes within a month after the Tamil Nadu government recognised the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-affiliated SIWU.
However, Samsung India countered these claims and said that it temporarily suspended the employees for violating company policy. Workers at the Sriperumbudur plant are accused of repeatedly gathering inside the company’s premises without authorisation to celebrate the recognition of the union and disrupting operations at its plant.
“Samsung does not condone any unlawful actions by employees that disrupt the industrial peace at the workplace. The company has filed official complaints with the relevant authorities against certain workers who have violated this policy,” Samsung India said in a response to a query from ThePrint on email.
The employees, it further added, will be “subject to appropriate disciplinary action following a formal enquiry”. They were “suspended to protect the work environment and other workers” and the measure was taken in accordance with Indian laws, Samsung India said.
On 9 February, the Tamil Nadu government finished the first round of discussions between SIWU and the company over the current situation. However, since the issue was not resolved, the government has scheduled a second round of talks on 12 February.
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Samsung India & SIWU lock horns
This comes months after 1,000 workers of the Sriperumbudur plant, nearly 50km from Chennai, went on strike, demanding, among other things, the recognition of their union.
The employees agreed to end the strike in October after an agreement between the Tamil Nadu government, Samsung India, the employees and the union. On 26 January, the Tamil Nadu government recognised SIWU. Celebrating this fact, a day later, sources in Samsung India told ThePrint, a large crowd of employees gathered in front of the plant, disrupting operations by blocking roads and unlawfully entering the premises.
A source said, “Workers are meant to work in the industry. Even to assemble in the lobby area, prior permission is required. But, they keep gathering in the lobby area.”
On 27 January, the source added, 300 people gathered at the premises and “in front of our gate”. They “burst crackers and blocked the way to the industry premises”.
Samsung sees the alleged gatherings inside company premises as a violation of its rules.
“It is clearly mentioned in the high court order that they can peacefully protest 500 meters away from the plant and should not disturb the plant’s production,” claimed the source quoted above. “But, even now, you can see people protesting inside the plant’s premises, disrupting the operation.” In October 2024, while disposing of a habeas corpus petition filed by the CITU, the Madras High Court had observed that the protest should be held 500 metres away from the plant and it shouldn’t disturb the operation of the unit.
What SIWU is alleging
On the other hand, SIWU has alleged that the management is pressuring employees to join a company-formed joint committee instead of the government-recognised union.
D. Sridhar, president of the SIWU, alleged a conspiracy to divide the employees. “They have given a separate office room for the joint committee, but not for the union recognised by the government. They also offer loans up to Rs 3 lakh for those who are members of the joint committee. The management also threatened employees to leave the union and join the committee.”
Muthukumar further alleged that the decision to meet the MD of the company was what led to the suspension orders without even providing a show cause notice.
Meanwhile, the source quoted above indicated that the company prefers to coordinate directly with working employees, rather than going through CITU. “All we want is to get the work done. We are for the employees, but we do not want them to be instigated by external forces like CITU.”
Muthukumar, who is also the Kancheepuram CITU secretary, claimed the suspensions lack a valid reason and are part of the management’s strategy to dismantle SIWU.
Recalling the previous protest and discussions between the union and the company, Sridhar said he anticipates that more people could be suspended. “When we called off the protest in October last year, it was based on the assurance that no retaliatory action would be taken against the workers. If they had grievances, they could have brought it to us during the ongoing conciliatory discussions,” Sridhar said. “Now with the suspension of the three workers, other employees are also scared of retaliatory action.”
Nevertheless, in its response to ThePrint, Samsung India also said they are working towards a collective agreement with workers to resolve the issue.
“Despite the illegal action by some, most of our workers remain dedicated to ensuring that normal business operations continue. We continue to make efforts towards a collective agreement with our workers to resolve the issues and for this, we remain open to a dialogue facilitated by the government,” Samsung India said. “We have not forced any worker to either join the worker committee or leave the union. Claims by the union contrary to the above are false and misleading.”
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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