Hundreds of workers at Samsung India’s Chennai plant celebrated the registration of their union after months of struggle. Following the official notification of the registration on Monday, January 27, they held a victory rally to mark the occasion.
Samsung India Workers Union (SIWU) is Samsung’s first workers’ union in India. It is only the second such union in a Samsung plant anywhere in the world. The first was National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), which only recently formed in South Korea in 2021, despite the company’s over 55 years of operation.
Currently SIWU has a membership of 1,350 out of a total workforce of around 1,850 workers. E. Muthukumar, president of the SIWU claimed at least 400 more workers are expected to join the union in the coming days.
SIWU members met and thanked leaders of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) which it is affiliated with, as well as Communist Party of India (Marxist) which supported their struggle.
Congratulating the workers, P. Shanmugam, Tamil Nadu secretary of the CPI (M) noted that the registration of the SIWU once again proves that “struggles are not lost.”
In a video message, CITU leader S. Kannan termed the registration of SIWU as a victory of relentless struggle of the working classes against various kinds of repression and a blow to the neoliberal economic policies pursued by the ruling classes.
Samsung, one of the world’s largest mobile phone and electronics companies, has had a deliberate “no union policy” for decades and its management is often accused of union busting.
Samsung started its operations in India in 2007. It currently has two factories in the country, the Kanchipuram (Chennai) plant produces televisions, refrigerators and washing machines. The other plant, located in Noida near Delhi, produces mobile phones and other electronics goods. The company had resisted the formation of a union in both plants until now.
Samsung workers strike for union recognition
SIWU and CITU leaders criticized the role of the local government claiming it deliberately took the side of the Samsung management against the workers.
Despite the government’s opposition, over 1,300 workers at Samsung India Electronics in Kanchipuram, near Chennai in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, went on an indefinite strike on September 9. They were demanding recognition of their union, which was formed in June 2024, as well as better working conditions, and better wages.
The strike continued for 37 days despite attempts by management to divide the workers and government repression. It ended on October 16 after an agreement was reached with the management, following mediation by the government. While management agreed to consider the workers’ demands favorably, they refused to withdraw the court objection to the naming of the SIWU.
The court case was filed by the Samsung management, claiming its use of the company’s name violated company trademark rules. The Madras high court, however, ruled in favor of the union in December and gave the government six weeks to register the union.
Protesting workers faced police repression, arrests, and various legal charges during their strike. The venue of their protest was vandalized by security forces after the government ruled the strike “illegal.” The provincial government, led by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) withheld the registration of the SIWU beyond the prescribed 45-day limit from the date of application, citing the legal suit filed by the company.
The SIWU was registered under the Trade Unions Act of 1926 on the final day of the court-imposed deadline.
Claiming the prolonged denial of registration violated workers’ constitutional rights, SIWU president E. Muthukumar urged the DMK government to ensure that “corporate companies follow our labor laws and the constitution.” He also called for the creation of specific policies for workers, similar to the welfare policies in place for women and students, Frontline reported.
