CITU Calls for Release of Detained Striking Workers of Samsung in Tamil Nadu

Over 100 striking workers of the Samsung India plant in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, were arrested by the State police on 16 September 2024, along with the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) Tamil Nadu State Secretary, E. Muthukumar, drawing a sharp reaction from the CITU.

Around 90% of the total 1723 workers of the plant have been on strike for the past eight days. They are demanding their right to form a union and start of fruitful discussion with the management on various pending demands of workers.

As part of their struggle, the striking workers were planning to march to the District Collector Office of Kancheepuram district on Monday, 16th September 2024. But the leaders including the Union President E. Muthukumar were illegally detained from the Union Office in the very morning along with 104 striking workers, according to CITU.

“Police prevented the Samsung workers at the outskirts of the Kancheepuram District from even entering the city. The peacefully striking workers were threatened and physically manhandled by Police at their protesting venue,” CITU said in the statement.

CITU has called upon all its units to organize gate/ workplace level meetings in support and solidarity of the striking Samsung workers on 17 and 18 September.

“The globally stigmatized Samsung Management with their infamous No-Union Policy wants to curb all these democratic rights of the workers and is blatantly violating the rights provided by the Trade Union Act 1926, Industrial Dispute Act 1947 along with the ILO Conventions No. 87 and 98 and International Labour Standard (ILS),” the CITU statement said.

CITU has demanded the “immediate intervention” of the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu to ensure that “the law of the land, including the right to association and right to collective bargaining” is available for the Samsung Workers.

The Sriperumbudur plant producing home appliances accounts for around a third of Samsung India’s annual $12 billion revenue from its India operations, according to CITU. Samsung Global has gained a consolidated a year-on-year net profit of 9.84 trillion KRW (South Korean Won) in the second quarter of 2024 against 1.72 trillion KRW the last year.

Giving details of the working conditions in the plant, CITU said that the workers in this plant are “subjected to long working hours, torturous intensity of work pressure to finish each product like refrigerator, washing machine or TV within 10-15 seconds, non-stop work for 4-5 hours at stretch and unsafe working conditions”. The statement revealed that Samsung workers in Seoul receive Rs 4.5-6.0 lakh on average as wages and salaries while their Indian counterparts are working at a meager Rs 20,000-25,000 per month.