Samsung Says Workers On Strike Have Returned, Union Dismisses Claims

Thousands of workers at Samsung’s Sriperumbudur plant outside of Chennai have been involved in the protest against the firm since September 9, 2024

To quash the strike, Samsung issued a show cause notice last week to the employees and warned them that their salaries would be withheld till they return to work

Source : Samsung

Samsung India Electronics on Monday informed that some of its employees protesting near its Sriperumbudur manufacturing plant have returned to work after the firm issued show-cause notices last week.

The company announced that the development occurred days following the notices issued to the employees involved in the strikes. “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, as reported by The Financial Express.

However, these claims have been refuted by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) which is steering the labour protest. The CITU described this as a tactic being used by the firm to create confusion amongst the workers involved in the protest.

Notably, thousands of workers at Samsung’s Sriperumbudur plant outside of Chennai have been involved in the protest against the firm since September 9, 2024. The workers have some major demands such as higher wages, improved working conditions, and recognition of a workers’ union backed by the CITU.

The report quoted Muthukumar, State Secretary CITU Tamil Nadu and President of the unrecognised Samsung India Workers Union (SIWU) and noted, “I am very much at the protest site, and the strike will continue.”

To quash the strike, Samsung issued a show cause notice last week to the employees and warned them that their salaries would be withheld till they return to work. The notice also cautioned that workers could find themselves without a job within seven days if they failed to comply with the notice.

The notice further read, “You are not entitled to any wages from September 9 until you return to work on a ‘No Work, No Pay’ basis.” The company demanded workers who didn’t report for duties within four days to provide justification as to why they should not be terminated from the firm completely.