Workers Call Off Month-Long Strike At Samsung’s Tamil Nadu Plant

In a major relief for Samsung India, workers at the South Korean tech giant’s Sriperumbudur factory have finally called off their month-long strike. 

The protesting employees will now resume work at the unit in batches starting March 8, Centre of Indian Trade Unions’ (CITU) Tamil Nadu president A Soundararajan told news agency PTI. 

Meanwhile, sources told The New Indian Express that while CITU had initially insisted on revoking the suspension of 23 workers before calling off the strike, it has now agreed to a fair internal inquiry by the company against the said workers. 

Additionally, the Samsung India management has also allowed workers to resume duty without a written undertaking. This follows the company previously seeking an undertaking from protesters to pledge they would not engage in such actions in the future. Now, the workers will return in batches to the plant after attending a one-day ‘training’ programme.

“Samsung welcomes the workers’ decision to call off the illegal strike and resume their duties at the Chennai plant. The company’s initiative to welcome back striking workers and its proactive engagement have facilitated their return, effectively ending the strike… We remain committed to enforcing discipline in the premises and resolving outstanding issues directly with our workers to maintain a positive work environment,” a Samsung India spokesperson reportedly said.

The development comes a month after Samsung India Workers Union (SIWU) on February 5 launched a sit-in protest against the company for suspending three key office bearers of the union. The matter snowballed into a bigger controversy after workers shifted their protest from a designated site within the company premises to the shop floor.

The protestors were demanding the ouster of the contract workers, who were reportedly hired by the company to compensate for the striking workforce. 

Subsequently on February 20, Samsung representatives failed to appear for a scheduled round of talks with the union members citing difficulties due to the sit-in strike. Thereafter, workers retreated from the company premises and moved their protest outside, and also were joined by CITU members.

Amid all this, Samsung suspended 20 additional workers, instructing them to refrain from reporting to work until an inquiry was completed. The company alleged that they were suspended after a group of workers allegedly tried to barge into the senior management’s offices on the second floor.

Previously, the smartphone giant also called for the intervention of the Tamil Nadu government to secure the safety of its workers, maintain discipline and provide ease of doing business amid growing protests.