CHENNAI: Samsung India Workers’ Union (SIWU) has announced plans to intensify its protests from Monday after the third round of the conciliatory talks between the company and SIWU on Friday morning failed to bear fruit. The talks were mediated by the labour department.
At a demonstration organised by CITU in Kancheepuram on Friday evening, the union declared that workers, along with their families, would stage a protest outside the company on Monday. In addition to the ongoing sit-in since February 5, some workers will also demonstrate outside the factory premises.
“The company has not expressed any willingness to negotiate with us and has also threatened action against more employees without a proper inquiry. Due to this, we walked out of the talks,” said E Muthukumar, Kancheepuram CITU secretary and SIWU president.
The union’s demands include revoking the suspension of three SIWU leaders, among others.
Muthukumar said the future demonstrations would include protests outside Samsung showrooms, token strikes by workers from other factories in solidarity, and state-wide demonstrations at all district headquarters.
The dates for these protests will be announced soon, he said. He also added that the state government should take action against the company for illegal production using temporary workers while the workers are engaged in protests.
Commenting on the incident, a Samsung India spokesperson said, "A section of our workers is engaged in an illegal strike within the Chennai factory premises, while most of our dedicated workers continue to ensure that production remains uninterrupted. We have filed official complaints with the relevant authorities against certain employees who have violated company policy. At Samsung, we are compliant with all applicable laws."