Agitating Samsung employees welcome Centre's intervention

Chennai: Samsung India workers who have been protesting at its factory near here since September 9, on Wednesday urged the Tamil Nadu government's intervention to hold talks with the management to solve the matter without any further delay. They also welcomed the Centre taking up the matter with the Tamil Nadu government. About 1,000 of the total 1,750 employee are on strike pressing for various demands including better pay packages and working conditions. Earlier in the day, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya wrote to the Tamil Nadu government urging to resolve the issue, amicably.

When contacted, CITU leader E Muthukumar, who is spearheading the strike in Sriperumbudur about 40 km from here, said it is a welcome move from the Union Minister, and added the officials from the Labour Ministry have been in contact with them on a regular basis. "We welcome his (Union Minister) comments. It is high time the Tamil Nadu government takes up the initiative to hold talks with the employees and the management to sort out the issue amicably without any delay", Muthukumar told. Mandaviya had written to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, urging swift resolution of the workers' strike.

The minister urged the state government to intervene for an early and amicable resolution for maintaining positive manufacturing sector ecosystem, a source had said. He also assured full support from the ministry to help the state in resolving the matter efficiently. In response to the strike, Samsung said scores of striking workers have returned to work soon after it issued the show cause notice. "The management has already indicated that all the issues can be resolved by discussions and has made various harmonious attempts to resolve differences and for your report to duty," Samsung said.

Following the strike, the Korean electronics giant said the impact of the strike is minimal and added the welfare of the employees is of top priority and that it would engage with them to address any grievances they may have. "The average monthly salary of our full-time manufacturing workers at the Chennai plant is 1.8 times the average salary of similar workers employed at other companies in the region. Our workers are also eligible for overtime pay and other allowances and we provide a workplace environment that assures the highest standards of health, safety and welfare, including free shuttle bus and meals," the company said.

The company said full-time employees make up for the majority of the total workforce "and the average tenure of our manufacturing workforce is more than 10 years, which underscores the satisfaction our workers have in working for the company."