The plant, which makes products such as televisions, refrigerators and washing machines, contributes 20-30 percent of Samsung’s $12 billion annual revenue in India, a key growth market for the company, sources have said previously.
The industrial unrest at the Sriperumbudur plant near the city of Chennai is one of the largest such strikes in recent years in India. The Samsung factory is located next to units of other global giants such as Foxconn and Dell in an area popular for manufacturing cars and electronics.
The workers want Samsung to recognise their union, as well as increase their pay and improve their working hours. Samsung’s general manager for South-West Asia, JB Park, and other top executives have travelled to the factory to try to resolve the protests.
“They (Samsung) will soon have to talk to us, just as they had to do with the Korean union there,” union leader E. Muthukumar told Reuters.
In July and August, the 36,500 members of Samsung Electronics’ largest workers’ union in South Korea demanded higher wages and benefits and went on strike for several days, but this had no impact on production there.
Samsung, India’s largest consumer electronics company and based in South Korea, did not respond to a request for comment. A Samsung India spokesman said Monday that the company was actively reaching out to workers “to address any grievances they may have and to comply with all laws and regulations.”
In India, the strike comes ahead of a critical holiday season, when consumers step up their shopping and businesses offer discounts.
According to Samsung employees outside the factory, the company has so far refused to recognise the union backed by the local labour group, the Centre of Indian Trade Unions.
“We will stand together and win,” the employees chanted together outside the factory, one of two Samsung plants in India.
Many workers wearing Samsung’s blue uniform shirts were seen sitting inside a makeshift tent outside the factory, which employs about 1,800 people.
So far, there have been no labor unrest at Samsung’s other Indian plant in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, which makes smartphones.
Read also: Samsung begins talks with union as strike continues at Sriperumbudur plant
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