Protesting Samsung India workers go on hunger strike inspired by freedom hero Gandhi

Record ID: 1846224

  • Title: Protesting Samsung India workers go on hunger strike inspired by freedom hero Gandhi
  • Date: 2nd October 2024
  • Summary: KANCHIPURAM, TAMIL NADU, INDIA (OCTOBER 02, 2024) (ANI-No use India) VARIOUS OF STRIKING WORKERS HOLDING UNION FLAGS STAGING SIT-IN NEAR SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS PLANT WOKERS' UNION LEADER PUTTING GARLAND ON ICONIC INDIAN FREEDOM FIGHTER MAHATMA GANDHI'S PHOTOGRAPH STRIKING WORKERS SITTING IN TENT WORKERS STANDING ON STAGE WAVING FLAG VARIOUS OF STRIKING WORKERS CLAPPING WORKER
  • Embargoed: 16th October 2024 17:15
  • Keywords: CITU Centre of Indian Trade Unions India Samsung Tamil Nadu company electronics employees higher manufacturing plant market order pay plant protest strike threaten union wages work workers
  • Location: KANCHIPURAM, TAMIL NADU, INDIA
  • City: KANCHIPURAM, TAMIL NADU, INDIA
  • Country: India
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Company News Markets,Economic Events
  • Reuters ID: LVA001KUK4GGF
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Samsung India workers staged a sit-in outside the company's electronic plant in southern Tamil Nadu state, going on a hunger strike following iconic Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi's ideology of non-violence on the occasion of his birth anniversary on Wednesday (October 02).
    "Just like how India got freedom by following the path of our great leader Mahatma Gandhi, we believe that Samsung workers should get freedom from Samsung management," said E. Muthukumar, a leader of the influential workers' union, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU).
    Earlier, Indian police detained hundreds of Samsung Electronics workers and union members for organising a street protest on Tuesday (October 01), as a strike at the South Korean firm's home appliances plant in Tamil Nadu state entered its fourth week.
    More than 1,000 workers have disrupted operations and protested in a makeshift tent close to the factory near the city of Chennai since Sept. 9. They have demanded higher wages and union recognition at the plant, which accounts for roughly a third of Samsung's annual Indian revenue of $12 billion.
    On Sept. 16, police detained 104 striking Samsung workers for almost a day.
    The protests cast a shadow over Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's drive for foreign investors to "Make in India" and is India's biggest such strike in recent years. Samsung has said the striking workers risk losing their jobs.
    Samsung did not respond to a request for comment. It previously said the average monthly salary of full-time manufacturing workers at the plant is nearly double that of similar workers in the region, and that it was open to engaging with workers and to resolve the matter.
    Samsung workers earn 25,000 rupees ($300) on average each month and demand a raise of 36,000 rupees a month reached within three years, CITU said.
  • Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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