Workers' strike for union & dignity cuts no ice with Samsung

Employees say protest hit 80% of the production with refrigerators being worst affected and TV the least; company says operations ramped up with contract workers THE long trail of light blueuniformed workers dotting either side of the road in Echoor leads to a protest shed set up just 1 km away from Samsung India's manufacturing unit.

- NIRUPAMA VISWANATHAN

Employees of the South Korean technology giant, who have been striking work since September 9, have raised a series of demands that include reduced working hours and revised wages. But chief among them is the recognition of a CITU-backed labour union.

Around 1,300 people from the company's total workforce of nearly 1,800 are part of the strike, and a majority of them work either as assembly operators or machine operators.

Over 50 women are also part of the protest. The employees alleged that they are hardly treated with any respect inside the factory, which primarily produces TVs, refrigerators and ACs.

Alias 'Ei' inside factory

"Our names are clearly visible on our ID cards and most of us have worked here for several years, but our immediate supervising engineers never address us by our names. We are just called 'Ei'," said Srinivasan₹, who works as an assembly operator. Another worker said, "Those late to work are made to stand out of the assembly line for an hour. It is humiliating. We cannot be punished as if we are in school."