By SocialistIndia.org 11 October 2024
More than 1,500 workers at Samsung Electronics’ plant in Sriperumbudur, on the outskirts of Chennai, have been on an indefinite strike for over a month, standing firm in their demand for the registration and recognition of their newly-formed union, the Samsung India Labour Welfare Union (SIWU), as well as for increased wages, an eight-hour working day, and improved working conditions.
These courageous workers, backed by the CITU (Centre for Indian Trade Unions), formed the SIWU in July this year to challenge the exploitation they endure daily —only to be met with escalating repression from both Samsung management and the Tamil Nadu State government.
The Samsung plant in Chennai, one of Samsung’s two manufacturing hubs in India, produces home appliances and contributes a third of the company’s $12 billion annual revenue in the country. Despite the severe disruption of its operations caused by the strike, the company, rather than address the workers’ legitimate demands, has chosen to retaliate with union-busting and strike-breaking tactics.
With the full complicity of the DMK-led state government, the workers have faced increasing intimidation, harassment and violence. In mid-September, the police had detained 118 workers for trying to march to the District Collector’s Office in Kanchipuram. Most recently, on October 8, after a bogus “Memorandum of Agreement” with the management failed to break the workers’ resolve, the police arrested at least ten workers and union leaders in the dead of night in their homes (including the president of the CITU for Tamil Nadu and the president of the SIWU) and dismantled the workers’ makeshift protest site.
This “agreement”, signed this week with a so-called “workmen committee” handpicked from among the workers who refused to strike, is nothing but an undemocratic manoeuver. The fact that an estimated 1,550 of the 1,723 workforce have remained on strike with the SIWU/CITU speaks to the workers’ overwhelming solidarity, and the fraudulent and diversionary nature of Samsung bosses’ tactics.
DMK government bending over backward to serve capitalist interests
The police crackdown and other repressive measures expose the true priorities of the DMK government, which hides behind pro-worker rhetoric while working hand in glove with corporate interests to suppress genuine working class representation.
The Minister of Industries for Tamil Nadu, T.R.B. Raja, has urged workers to return to work, showing that his government’s line is indistinguishable from Samsung’s management itself. It is no surprise that the latter has publicly thanked the authorities for their “constant support.”
This strike, now on day 32, has also exposed cracks in the DMK’s public narrative, with parties within the ‘INDIA’ alliance breaking ranks on this issue. The Congress and VCK have expressed support for the workers, while the CPI(M) has been involved since day one. Yet, as voices within the DMK’s own camp begin to call for the expulsion of “communists” from the regional coalition and spread misinformation about the strike across both official and social media, it is clear that taking a principled stand in support of workers’ rights is not a priority for the state’s ruling party.
The DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has been courting corporate giants during his recent tour of the United States, aimed at luring more private investors in the state. His declared goal of making Tamil Nadu a $1 trillion economy by 2030 is being done at the cost of keeping workers subdued, without genuine union representation, and subjected to the profit-maximising conditions imposed by multinational companies operating in the state’s factories.
Meanwhile, the AIADMK and BJP’s deafening silence on this vital struggle speaks volume, showing these parties’ own allegiance to big business interests, which Modi and the BJP are diligently reproducing on the national stage.
Spreading the fight beyond the factory gates
The Samsung workers’ strike in Chennai is not just about one plant; it holds the potential to be a catalyst and inspire workers across Tamil Nadu and other parts of India. The management and state government know this, and this is why they are so determined to put it down. As the Indian Express noted, “The company, which started the plant in 2007 and has not faced such an issue before, also has concerns that allowing CITU a foothold in Sriperumbudur could create ripple effects at other plants.”
This is precisely what needs to happen! A 24h-strike across Sriperumbudur’s industrial region could be a powerful step in this direction.
This dispute has already resonated far beyond the factory gates; it also drew original inspiration from the nearly 30,000 Samsung workers who went on strike in South Korea earlier this year—workers with whom the Indian strikers stood in solidarity, showing the power of international workers’ unity. Now, more than ever, that same solidarity must be extended.
We stand unwaveringly with the striking Samsung workers in Chennai. Their fight is our fight! Only by uniting across industries, plants, and borders, can the working class build the collective power necessary to challenge the might of global corporations like Samsung, and win.