Samsung India protests: police release over 900 detained workers, unionists

By Praveen Paramasivam

CHENNAI (Reuters) -Indian police on Tuesday said they had released 912 Samsung Electronics workers and union members detained for almost a day for organising a street protest, 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 production and protested in a makeshift tent close to the factory near the city of Chennai since Sept. 9, demanding higher wages and union recognition.

The Tamil Nadu plant accounts for a fifth of Samsung's 2022-23 India annual revenue of $12 billion.

Charles Sam Rajadurai, a senior state police official, said earlier on Tuesday around 850 Samsung employees and 60 workers linked to labour group CITU, which is leading the protest, were detained as their protest march near Chennai was inconveniencing the public, and was being organized without permission.

They were released late on Tuesday, K. Shanmugam, a senior state police official, told Reuters by telephone.

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 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 discussions with workers about resolving the matter.

The Samsung plant employs roughly 1,800 workers and more than 1,000 of them have been on strike. The factory makes appliances such as refrigerators, TVs and washing machines. Another Samsung plant that makes smartphones in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh has had no unrest.

A source with direct knowledge said on Tuesday Samsung has arranged for some contractual workers and apprentices to minimize the production impact.

The strike comes after Samsung's biggest union in South Korea held a four-day strike in August demanding higher wages and bonuses after talks with management fell through.

Samsung has warned the striking workers they risk losing their jobs and has taken CITU members to court, saying the strike is illegal. The employees however disagree and say they will continue to protest until their demands are met.

So far, Samsung has not agreed to recognize a union backed by a third-party group like CITU, resulting in an impasse.

Samsung workers earn 25,000 rupees ($300) on average each month and are demanding a raise of 36,000 rupees a month reached within three years, CITU said.

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam; Writing by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Kim Coghill and Jan Harvey)