Tamil Nadu government steps in to diffuse strike in Samsung plant

Chennai: With the protest by employees of Samsung Electronics’ plant entering its 27th day, the Tamil Nadu government has stepped in to resolve the issues amicably by deputing three ministers to hold talks with the management of the South Korean firm and workers who are on a strike.

Highly placed sources in the government told Deccan Herald that Chief Minister M K Stalin has deputed Industries Minister T R B Rajaa, MSME minister T M Anbarasan, and Labour Minister C V Ganesan to diffuse the strike at the Samsung’s manufacturing unit in Sunguvarchatiram.

They are likely to hold talks with Samsung and its employees on Monday in the presence of officials from the Labour Department.

About 1,000 workers of the plant have been protesting for the past 27 days demanding “fair pay” and the right to form a union to protect their interests.

While the protesters have been demanding their pay to be on par with their counterparts in South Korea, Samsung has been engaging with them for the past one month but to no avail.

Saturday also saw Tamil Nadu Police taking into custody the state unit chiefs of CPI (M) and CPI – K Balakrishnan and R Mutharasan – as they protested against the company.

The Left parties organised the protest on Saturday demanding the DMK dispensation’s intervention in the issue.

“The Chief Minister has told Rajaa and Anbarasan to sit with Ganesan and sort out the issue. He gave clear instructions to ensure that the issue is resolved as early as possible. While the interests of labour have to be taken care of, the government is also particularly clear that the protests shouldn’t go out of its hand,” a source in the know told DH.

The source added that Samsung is also willing to heed to the demands of the employees with regard to their request for a pay hike. “The bone of contention is the composition of the Union and that is where the talks are stalemated. We need to find an early resolution,” the source said.

Employees of Samsung Electronics have been protesting outside the plan since September 9 demanding recognition to the Samsung India Workers Union, which is yet to be recognised by the company despite demands for its constitution for quite some time.

Several rounds of talks between the CITU, Tamil Nadu government, and Samsung India in the past four weeks have failed to reach any agreement with the workers and the South Korean electronics major sticking to their known stands.

The development comes at a time the Tamil Nadu government is bullish on attracting investments in several sectors, especially electronics. Global technology giant Cisco launched production from the Flex factory last week, while Jabil is setting up a plant in Tiruchirapalli. Moreover, Tamil Nadu is home to key Apple Inc suppliers like Foxconn, Pegatron, and Tata Electronics.