Workers’ strike at Samsung India disrupts output

SECOND DAY:
Employees at the consumer goods plant called for higher wages, better working hours and recognition
of the workers’ union

• Reuters, SRIPERUMBUDUR, India

Operations at Samsung Electronics Co’s plant in southern India were disrupted for a second day yesterday by hundreds of employees striking for higher wages, in a rare episode of labor unrest for the South Korean company.

The strike at India’s biggest consumer goods company comes ahead of the festive season. The plant is one of two factories in India, which Samsung counts as a key growth market.

Two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said it contributed 20 to 30 percent of Samsung’s annual revenue of US$12 billion in India.

Photo: Reuters

Posters reading “Indefinite Strike” went up outside the factory in Sriperumbudur near the city of Chennai, where hundreds of workers in company uniforms set up tents to shade them from the heat.

“We are striking for the second day,” union leader E. Muthukumar said.

About half of the factory’s daily production was affected when many workers stayed away on Monday, and the protest continues to press their demand for higher wages, better working hours and company recognition of the union.

Samsung India did not respond to a request for comment.

On Monday, a spokesperson said that the company actively engaged with workers “to address any grievances they may have and comply with all laws and regulations.”

Samsung employs about 1,800 workers at the plant, which makes items such as refrigerators, washing machines and televisions, while a bigger plant in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh turns out smartphones.

Workers are demanding equal remuneration for those with the same length of experience, at least half a dozen employees Reuters spoke to on condition of anonymity said.

One poster outside the factory exhorted state labor officials not to support the management, advising instead: “Discuss and solve demands from the labor union with union officials.”

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