CHENNAI: CM M K Stalin has instructed Industries Minister TRB Rajaa and Minister for MSMEs and DMK Kancheepuram secretary TM Anbarasan to intervene and expedite conciliatory talks between the protesting Samsung workers and the management of the Korean electronics giant. The next round of negotiations, in which Samsung is expected to participate, is scheduled for Monday.
Samsung India Workers’ Union (SIWU) president E Muthukumar said, “The state government representatives, who unofficially reached out to us, wanted us to call off the protests but there has been no pressure on Samsung to consider our demands.”
Several CITU members said they were convinced that the state government was not on their side, especially since the registration of the union has been pending before the Tamil Nadu labour department for a long time. “We have not been asked for clarifications or to produce additional documents. They are simply quiet,” Muthukumar said. The workers had applied for registration of the union on July 25.
Meanwhile, scores of Left party members including their state leaders were detained in Chennai on Saturday when they held a demonstration to express solidarity with the protesting workers.
CPI state secretary R Mutharasan and CPM state secretary K Balakrishnan, who were among those detained by the police, sought the immediate intervention of CM to resolve the issue.
Senior labour department officials said efforts are under way to bring both parties to a compromise.