CHENNAI: Amid fresh tension at the Samsung Electronics plant, the Korean giant has asked the Tamil Nadu govt to ensure the security and safety of workers at the factory and work towards ease of doing business, marking a departure from its earlier stance when sought to engage with protesting workers without going public with its concerns.
“A certain section of workers once again illegally tried to disrupt operations and industrial peace today. While our production remains uninterrupted, we urge the state authorities to secure the safety of our workers, maintain discipline and provide ease of doing business,” it said in a statement on Thursday, in what is being seen as a sign of growing frustration with the prolonged labour trouble at the plant.
A section of workers has been protesting against the suspension of three of their CITU-backed Samsung India Workers Union functionaries earlier.
“At Samsung, our priority is to maintain a safe and stable workplace for all workers. A certain section of workers once again illegally tried to disrupt operations and industrial peace today. We have a zero-tolerance policy for any illegal activities by workers that disrupt industrial stability and peace at the workplace,” the company was quoted as saying by a news agency.
There are signs of CITU seeking to intensify the stir. On Wednesday, it had given a call for a one-day strike across all industrial units in Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu.
On Thursday morning, a section of employees affiliated with the CITU union allegedly tried to stop production. “Samsung started production with temporary workers who are not on the muster rolls of the company, blatantly violating Factories Act. The state labour department is not taking action against unlawful activities of the company despite multiple complaints, so we stopped the production process ourselves,” said CITU state president A Soundararajan.
According to sources, workers entered and protested on the shop floor for around five hours from 8am. Later, the police removed the protesters from the facility.
