<p>Chennai: After a seven-month struggle by employees of Samsung India factory near here, the Tamil Nadu government on Monday formally registered the Samsung India Workers Union (SIWU) backed by the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU). </p><p>The registration was done on the last day of the six-week deadline imposed on the state government by the Madras High Court. This is the first union to be formed within the company in India.</p>.Pressure mounts on Tamil Nadu govt after police crackdown on protesting Samsung employees.<p>The union’s registration is seen as a major victory for the CITU which spearheaded a protest of employees of the Samsung India factory in Sunguvarchatiram near here that lasted for 37 days after it began on September 9. </p><p>CITU’s Kanchipuram district chief Muthukumar, who is likely to be the president of the SIWU, expressed the hope that the Samsung management will now recognise the union and engage with it actively.</p><p> “It's hereby certified that the Samsung India Thozhilalargal Sangam, No. 21B, Vilakkadi Koil Street, Kancheepuram Town, Kancheepuram Taluk, Kancheepuram District, Tamil Nadu, 631501 has been registered under the Trade Unions Act, 1926, this day of 27-01-2025,” the order signed by the Joint Commissioner of Labour, Chennai-2, said. </p><p>The registration of the SIWU comes seven months after the CITU applied for the same, listing 1,455 workers from Samsung as members of the union. </p>.After 37 days of strike, protesting Samsung workers in Tamil Nadu to resume work from October 17.<p>The employees submitted an online petition seeking registration in June but since Samsung filed an objection to the application, the matter ended up in the Madras High Court, which had in December fixed a six-week deadline to the state government to take a decision on the matter. </p><p>The massive protest by employees of Samsung outside its factory in Sunguvarchatiram in Kanchipuram district made headlines across the country. </p><p>“The state government took over 200 days to register the union instead of taking a decision in 45 days according to the rules. Since the government wasn’t willing to go by the rule book, we knocked on the doors of the judiciary. And the government has finally come around and approved the registration,” Muthukumar said. </p><p>Over 1,000 workers of the Samsung India plant in Sunguvarchatiram began a protest on September 9 demanding recognition of SIWU and fair pay to them. However, the South Korean electronics major was not willing to engage with the workers and was forced to talk to them indirectly through the Tamil Nadu government. Finally, an agreement was reached in October. </p><p>The strike had put the DMK government in a spot after the protest began gaining traction and support from the ruling party's allies like the CPI(M), CPI, and VCK. </p><p>Things came to a naught after police cracked down on the striking employees by dismantling the protest shed, following which the state government multiplied its efforts to resolve the issue.</p>
<p>Chennai: After a seven-month struggle by employees of Samsung India factory near here, the Tamil Nadu government on Monday formally registered the Samsung India Workers Union (SIWU) backed by the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU). </p><p>The registration was done on the last day of the six-week deadline imposed on the state government by the Madras High Court. This is the first union to be formed within the company in India.</p>.Pressure mounts on Tamil Nadu govt after police crackdown on protesting Samsung employees.<p>The union’s registration is seen as a major victory for the CITU which spearheaded a protest of employees of the Samsung India factory in Sunguvarchatiram near here that lasted for 37 days after it began on September 9. </p><p>CITU’s Kanchipuram district chief Muthukumar, who is likely to be the president of the SIWU, expressed the hope that the Samsung management will now recognise the union and engage with it actively.</p><p> “It's hereby certified that the Samsung India Thozhilalargal Sangam, No. 21B, Vilakkadi Koil Street, Kancheepuram Town, Kancheepuram Taluk, Kancheepuram District, Tamil Nadu, 631501 has been registered under the Trade Unions Act, 1926, this day of 27-01-2025,” the order signed by the Joint Commissioner of Labour, Chennai-2, said. </p><p>The registration of the SIWU comes seven months after the CITU applied for the same, listing 1,455 workers from Samsung as members of the union. </p>.After 37 days of strike, protesting Samsung workers in Tamil Nadu to resume work from October 17.<p>The employees submitted an online petition seeking registration in June but since Samsung filed an objection to the application, the matter ended up in the Madras High Court, which had in December fixed a six-week deadline to the state government to take a decision on the matter. </p><p>The massive protest by employees of Samsung outside its factory in Sunguvarchatiram in Kanchipuram district made headlines across the country. </p><p>“The state government took over 200 days to register the union instead of taking a decision in 45 days according to the rules. Since the government wasn’t willing to go by the rule book, we knocked on the doors of the judiciary. And the government has finally come around and approved the registration,” Muthukumar said. </p><p>Over 1,000 workers of the Samsung India plant in Sunguvarchatiram began a protest on September 9 demanding recognition of SIWU and fair pay to them. However, the South Korean electronics major was not willing to engage with the workers and was forced to talk to them indirectly through the Tamil Nadu government. Finally, an agreement was reached in October. </p><p>The strike had put the DMK government in a spot after the protest began gaining traction and support from the ruling party's allies like the CPI(M), CPI, and VCK. </p><p>Things came to a naught after police cracked down on the striking employees by dismantling the protest shed, following which the state government multiplied its efforts to resolve the issue.</p>