India: Industry bodies concerned over Samsung strike entering 2nd month

India’s leading industry bodies have expressed concern and requested urgent, amicable resolution of the ongoing Samsung workers’ protest in Tamil Nadu, Southern India, which has now entered its second month. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) are among the industry bodies that encouraged a mutually beneficial solution to the standoff between the Samsung Management, protesting workers, and the Government of Tamil Nadu. 

Tamil Nadu is India’s second largest state economy and the country’s most industrialised state. In recent years, the Southern Indian state has been witnessing a significant spike in investment from global leaders in the electronics contract manufacturing and electronic component manufacturing sectors. 

Since September 9th, hundreds of workers from Samsung’s electronics assembly facility near Chennai, have been protesting. Their demands include better wages, better facilities at work, improved work-life balance, and recognition of their Samsung India Workers Union (SIWU), one that is backed by Left-affiliated Trade Unions. The strike-hit Samsung facility is known to churn out televisions, washing machines, and air conditioners, and is a significant one for the South Korean giant, which is the market leader in the Indian consumer electronics segment. 

The Left party CPI(M) has been backing the protests, and claims that the Tamil Nadu government has been behaving in an anarchist manner by arresting the Samsung workers near the protest site. This week, the Madras High Court had stated that there is no ban on workers protesting. On Wednesday, the police arrested some of the leaders backing the protest and also dismantled the makeshift tent put up by the protesters. Over the last one month, the protesters and their backers from the Left-affiliated CITU (Centre of Indian Trade Unions) had been camping at a makeshift tent erected a short walk away from the Samsung facility in Sriperumbudur, an industrial hub near Chennai city.

Ironically, the Communist parties and other political outfits that have been supporting the workers protests, are allies of Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK. Many of DMK’s allies have lashed out at the government’s attempts to crackdown on what has been a peaceful agitation. 

“Why are protesting workers arrested? Were they a threat to law & order?,” queried Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram, who represents the Sivaganga constituency.

S. Venkatesan, a Parliamentarian from Madurai, representing the CPI(M), accused the Tamil Nadu government machinery of “becoming the guardians of Samsung.”

The ongoing protests had earlier prompted the Indian Labour Minister to write to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, urging his intervention in resolving the issue. This week, the Tamil Nadu government has been holding talks to help resolve the issue.

According to Tamil Nadu’s Industries Minister TRB Raaja, the recognition of the Samsung India Workers Union (SIWU) is the only demand that remains unmet by the Samsung management, as there is an ongoing court case in that regard. It is due to the non-recognition of the SIWU that the protests are said to be continuing. 

The protests are taking place at a time when Tamil Nadu and other southern Indian states have been attracting big-ticket investments, as global companies are accelerating their ‘China+1’ strategy. This strategy involves gradually reducing dependence on China, the world’s second largest economy and manufacturing powerhouse. This is driven by the growing geopolitical uncertainties that the West sees with respect to China. 

On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu’s Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu had requested the Trade Unions and protesters to give up their agitation. He reasoned that the Samsung factory employed thousands of workers and offered a means of livelihood for several families.