CHENNAI: The hundreds of Samsung workers who were on a sit-in strike in a designated area within Samsung India's manufacturing plant in Sriperumbudur, moved their protest to the shop floor, where the production takes place, on Thursday morning.
Following the move, the state labour department has advanced the next round of reconciliatory talks, initially scheduled on February 24, to Thursday at noon. The talks held on Wednesday did not end in a resolution.
Workers that TNIE spoke to said that the contract workers who were allegedly unlawfully being engaged in production were asked to leave by the protesting workers, disrupting production in the area. However, Samsung sources told TNIE that production in the plant has not taken a hit.
The workers had been carrying out a sit-in strike in the designated area of the company's premises since February 5, demanding the suspension of three Samsung workers, part of the Samsung India Workers Union, to be withdrawn.
"The workers are protesting in the production area now because the management has refused to hold talks with us," said a worker.
In response, Samsung has sought the intervention of the state government to maintain ease of doing business in the state.
"At Samsung, our priority is to maintain a safe and stable workplace for all workers. A certain section of workers once again illegally tried to disrupt operations and industrial peace today. We have a zero-tolerance policy for any illegal activities by workers that disrupt industrial stability and peace at the workplace. It is important for all employees to adhere to company policies, and those who violate these policies will be subject to disciplinary action after due process,” said a Samsung India spokesperson.
“While our production remains uninterrupted, we urge the state authorities to secure the safety of our workers, maintain discipline and provide ease of doing business,” the spokesperson added.
Samsung workers, who are part of the sit-in strike since the suspension of three workers, said that despite two weeks of protest, they were not called in for talks by the management. “Apart from the suspension of the three workers, our main grouse is that contract workers are being used in the production line, in violation of law, after we struck work. So workers went to the shop floor and asked them to move out. Contract workers are usually assigned loading and unloading duties and are not directly part of the production line,” a striking worker told TNIE.
Workers also said that 14 others have been called in by the Samsung management to ‘collect their suspension orders’, but they were yet to receive them. The company’s statement on Thursday also said, “At Samsung, our priority is to maintain a safe and stable workplace for all workers. A certain section of workers once again illegally tried to disrupt operations and industrial peace today. We have a zero-tolerance policy for illegal activities by workers that disrupt industrial stability and peace at the workplace.”