Samsung India Electronics announced on Monday that a section of workers protesting near its Sriperumbudur manufacturing plant, located on the outskirts of Chennai, has returned to work following the issuance of show-cause notices last week.
“Scores of striking workers returned to work at Samsung’s factory in Chennai, days after the company issued show-cause notices to the employees involved in the strike,” the company said in a statement.
However, the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), which is leading the labour protest, refuted this claim, describing it as a tactic by the company to create confusion among the protesting workers.
On Friday, Samsung issued a show-cause notice to the striking employees, stating that wages would be withheld until they returned to work. The notice also warned that workers could face termination within seven days if they failed to comply.
“You are not entitled to any wages from September 9 until you return to work on a ‘No Work, No Pay’ basis,” the notice read. It added that workers who did not report to work within four days of receiving the notice must provide justification within seven days as to why they should not be dismissed from service.
Since September 9, thousands of workers at Samsung’s Sriperumbudur plant have been staging a protest in a makeshift tent near the facility. Their demands include higher wages, better working conditions, and recognition of a workers’ union backed by CITU.
E Muthukumar, CITU Tamil Nadu state secretary and president of the unrecognised Samsung India Workers Union (SIWU), denied Samsung’s claims, saying, “I am very much at the protest site, and the strike will continue.”
Established in 2007, the manufacturing facility in Sriperumbudur is one of Samsung’s two factories in India. The plant, which employs around 1,800 workers, produces consumer goods such as televisions, washing machines, and air conditioners. According to Muthukumar, 1,550 of Samsung’s 1,723 workers are now union members, all of whom are permanent employees.
The strike, now in its 15th day, initially disrupted the production of consumer goods such as televisions, refrigerators, and washing machines. However, Samsung claims that the impact of the strike has been minimal recently, and the company expects production to return to near-normal levels this week.