Samsung Defends Indian Wages as Strike at Plant Enters Third Week

Samsung Electronics employees at a manufacturing unit in India’s Tamil Nadu state are paid nearly twice as a lot as workers in close by firms, the South Korean group mentioned on Tuesday, as a strike on the plant enters its third week.

Greater than 1,000 employees have disrupted operations and protested in a makeshift tent near Samsung’s house home equipment manufacturing unit close to town of Chennai since September 9.

They’re demanding larger wages and union recognition on the plant, which contributes roughly a 3rd of Samsung’s annual income in India of $12 billion (roughly Rs. 1,00,359 crore). 

Commenting on wages for the primary time, Samsung mentioned in an announcement: “The typical month-to-month wage of our full-time manufacturing employees on the Chennai plant is 1.8 occasions the common wage of comparable employees employed at different firms within the area.”

The Samsung manufacturing unit is subsequent to items of worldwide giants akin to Foxconn and Dell in an space well-liked for car and electronics manufacturing.

“Our employees are additionally eligible for time beyond regulation pay and different allowances and we offer a office surroundings that assures the very best requirements of well being, security and welfare,” Samsung mentioned, including it was prepared to have interaction with employees to deal with their grievances to allow them to return to work as quickly as doable.

The Samsung protests forged a shadow over Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive for extra overseas traders to “Make in India” and to triple electronics manufacturing to $500 billion (roughly Rs. 41,81,635 crore) in six years. It’s the greatest such strike in India in recent times.

Veera Raghava Rao, Tamil Nadu’s labour secretary, mentioned on Tuesday efforts have been ongoing to resolve the dispute.

In keeping with labour group CITU, which is main the strike, Samsung employees earn 25,000 rupees ($300) on common per 30 days, and are demanding an additional 36,000 rupees ($430) per 30 days over three years.

Samsung final week warned its hanging employees they might not obtain wages in the event that they continued protesting, Reuters reported.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

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