About 600 Samsung Electronics workers and union members were detained by the police on Tuesday for participating a street protest. The protest was a part of the strike organised by the employees at the company’s plant in Tamil Nadu.
The strike has been notably going on for four weeks now, reported Reuters. As part of the protest, over 1,000 workers have been voicing their concerns in a makeshift tent near the factory of the company near Sriperumbudur, since September 9, 2024.
The report quoted Charles Sam Rajadurai, a senior state police official and said that the employees related to labour group CITU were held as their protest near Chennai was causing inconvenience to the public. “They are being detained in four wedding halls,” he added.
The CITU has been leading the protest. As part of the demands, the workers have been asking for better wages and recognition for the union at the plant. Earlier on September 16, about 104 striking workers were detained by the police for nearly a day.
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Notably, last week, Samsung India Electronics announced that some of its employees on strike have returned back to work following the show cause notices from the company. "Scores of striking workers returned to work at Samsung’s factory in Chennai, days after the company issued show-cause notices to the employees involved in the strike," the firm said. However, these claims were refuted by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU). The union said the announcement was a tactic being used by the company to create confusion amongst the employees involved in the protest.
The notices issued by the company stated that the employees would not be entitled to any pay unless they report back to work. It also cautioned that those failing to report back to duty within four days would have to explain why their employment shouldn't be terminated.