According to Samsung Electronics, workers at the factory in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, have formed the Samsung India Labour Welfare Union (SILWU), under the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), which is affiliated with the Communist Party. The workers have refused to work since Sept. 9.
The Chennai factory, built by Samsung Electronics in 2007, produces TVs, refrigerators and washing machines, with nearly 2,000 manufacturing workers employed. Currently, around 1,000 workers are participating in the strike.
The striking workers are demanding a wage increase of more than 100 percent over the next three years from the current average monthly wage of around 35,000 rupees (US$418.6). They are also calling for a reduction in working hours from the current 48 hours over six days per week to 35 hours over five days per week. Indian labor laws set the standard workweek at 48 hours.
While the company is bringing in replacement workers, it is expected that prolonged strikes could lead to production disruptions. Samsung is negotiating wage increases and other matters with the factory's labor-management council instead of SILWU, which is not an official union.
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