Samsung workers stage a sit-in to protest suspension of 3 SIWU staff

Allege action without valid reasons; company says disciplinary committee to probe matter

- NIRUPAMA VISWANATHAN @Chennai

A section of Samsung workers at the company's manufacturing unit at Sriperumbudur staged a sit-in strike on Wednesday against the suspension of three staff allegedly without any basis. All three were office-bearers of the CITU-backed Samsung India Workers' Union (SIWU), which was recently registered by Tamil Nadu's Labour department under the Trade Unions Act.

E Muthukumar, Kancheepuram CITU secretary and president of SIWU, said that the workers were suspended without valid reasons and that the move is part of the management's efforts to dismantle the SIWU. However, Samsung said that the workers have been suspended on charges of disrupting operations at the plant.