Samsung Workers Strike at Chennai Factory

• Around two-thirds of Samsung’s 1,800 employees in Chennai have been striking for a month, demanding higher wages, better working conditions, and recognition of their newly formed labour union, the Samsung India Workers Union (SIWU).
• Tamil Nadu’s Industries Minister T.R.B. Raja urged striking workers to return to work, citing the interest of jobs for the youth and employment opportunities for the State.
• Samsung and a “workmen’s committee” reached an agreement on measures, including a monthly ₹5000 “productivity stabilisation incentive” to be paid to workers between October 2024 and March 2025.
• Striking workers rejected this agreement, accusing the “workmen’s committee” of being company backers and not representing the interests of the majority of employees.
• The National Labour Union (CITU), the national labour union supporting Samsung India workers, reported that hundreds have been arrested.
• Samsung is South Korea’s largest family-run business, with a consolidated revenue of approximately $198 billion in FY2023.
• The company has maintained a ‘no union’ policy since its inception over 80 years ago, but has recently won a major collective bargaining agreement that includes recognising full-time union members and full pay for working extra hours on union duty.
• SIWU has filed a case in the Madras High Court seeking immediate registration of its union, which grants it legal standing and certain protections under the TU Act.
• The government has denied accusations of siding with Samsung’s management, stating that unionisation is an investment globally and beneficial for both companies and workers.