CHENNAI: The workers of the South Korean electronic giant Samsung’s factory at Sunguvarchatram, Sriperumbudur, formed a union called Samsung India Workers’ Union (SIWU) with assistance from the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) on Monday demanding reduction of working hours to seven, working days to five and better wages.
In their first General Body meeting, the SIWU has passed a resolution extending solidarity with 28,000 striking Samsung Workers at Seoul, South Korea and by another resolution this newly formed union decided to apply for CITU affiliation.
CITU has extended its “revolutionary greetings” to the valiant workers who formed the union in Samsung, one of the global electronic brands braving heavy odds. Samsung India has not yet formally recognised the CITU-affiliated union. It has another manufacturing facility in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, which has no trade union.
Addressing a gate meeting after the formation of the SIWU, E Muthukumar, Kancheepuram district secretary of the CITU, said that one of the first representations to be sent to the management would be demanding a reduction of working hours to seven from the existing nine hours and working days to five from six.
“Even though the Labour Act mandates the daily work hours to eight, the company is making the workers work for nine hours. If they wanted more production, they extended the working hours by another three hours with OT. Don’t the workers need time to spend with their family? We are going to demand the management to reduce the working hours to seven hours from nine hours and working days to five from six days,” he said.
Muthukumar declared that they would strive to bring an end to partiality in the salary paid to the workers. “We will not accept the salary hike of Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 given to the workers. We will demand a hike of Rs 12,000 for the experienced worker,” he said.
He asserted that forming a union is a right of the workers and the management and the state government should not oppose it.