The 37-day-long strike led by Samsung India Workers’ Union (SIWU), backed by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), ended on October 16. “The workers will return to work on October 17. They have unanimously voted to end the strike,” said S. Kannan, CITU Tamil Nadu deputy general secretary, after the union’s general body meeting in Kanchipuram.
“We are really happy. We would have been happier if the government had given us the registration number, but we are assured that we will win the case in court,” said a 34-year-old Samsung worker. While the union registration is sub-judice, A. Soundararajan, Tamil Nadu CITU president, said after meeting with Ministers at the Chennai Secretariat on October 15 that the discussions were satisfactory. “We appreciate the government’s steps. We’ve always said we’ll abide by the court’s order regarding registration. Our next demand was for the company to talk to us. A few suggestions were made to facilitate that. We’re hoping things will turn out well. Around 85 per cent of workers have accepted this as their union and us as their leaders. That recognition is our foundation.”
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The State government announced the strike’s end on October 15 after a tripartite conciliation between Samsung management, union leaders, workers, and itself. Four Ministers participated in the meeting. The government’s press release stated, “Both parties agreed to the proposals made, and the strike has come to an end.”
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin congratulated CITU leaders, workers, and Samsung management officials for reaching an agreement, saying, “Let us leave the events of the past behind us and move forward.” The government publicised four proposals: Workers should discontinue the strike and return to work immediately; the company should not take punitive actions against returning strikers; returning workers should cooperate with the company and avoid anti-management activities; and the management should file a written response to the conciliation officer regarding workers’ demands, including wage increases.
Samsung workers during their strike at a Samsung facility in Sriperumbudur plant near Chennai on September 11, 2024. | Photo Credit: Reuters
Even though the government says that there won’t be any punitive action from the management, there is no clarity on the cases slapped on the workers and the union leaders by Tamil Nadu police. “Minister E.V. Velu, speaking to us on October 15, committed to addressing the cases filed on protesting workers,” said E. Muthukumar, SIWU president.
The union registration case will be heard in Madras High Court on October 18, with the next round of discussions scheduled for November 11.
On ending the strike without union registration, Kannan said: “Our leaders and workers are certain we’ll get the registration through the court as we’ve made all necessary legal arrangements”.
SIWU, according to Muthukumar, has 1,550 members out of Samsung’s 1,723 permanent employees. “We’ve made the management agree to talk to us on our demands. The government also asked them to engage with us.”
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“Since Samsung is an international company, it has many standards, rules, and regulations,” said Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on October 10. “Their only condition is that no association with political affiliation can be started. All other demands, as discussed by our Ministers, have been implemented.”
On September 19, the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) in South Korea had extended support to the SIWU strike. NSEU’s letter to the protesting workers criticised Samsung’s “no-union” policy: “A no-union policy is anti-worker, plain and simple, and violates basic workers’ rights. This kind of policy should not belong anywhere, not in Korea or in the global market. It’s an outdated management tactic that suppresses workers’ rights and ignores their voices, all for corporate profit.”
