Samsung stir: CITU seeks ILO’s attention on refusal for Left union

CHENNAI: In an effort to bring in the mediation of international organisations that stand for labour rights protection, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) general secretary Tapan Sen has shot off a complaint to the chairperson, the Committee on Freedom of Association, International Labour Organisation (ILO), regarding the non-recognition of union and union busting by Samsung India Electronics Pvt Ltd at Sriperumbudur.

The move by the Left-affiliated union comes in the backdrop of the strike by Samsung workers entering its fifth week, despite a crackdown by the State government, unleashing cops on protesters. This assumes significance as the Left parties are allied with the ruling DMK in the State.

In the letter, he describes how the overwhelming majority of Samsung workers at its manufacturing unit near Sunguvarchatram in Kancheepuram organized themselves into a labour union under the name Samsung India Workers Union on June 16, 2024, as per the provisions of the Trade Union Act, 1926, and applied for its registration on June 26 to the Registrar of Trade Unions of Tamil Nadu. 

As per the Trade Union Act, the SIWU was to be statutorily registered within 45 days from the date of applying for the registration but it was not done even after a lapse of 85 days, the union leader noted in the letter. The SIWU filed a case in the Madras High Court on September 20 which directed the Registrar of Trade Unions and the SIWU to discuss and complete the process within two weeks that is by October 14, he added.

Sen said that the SIWU submitted a 20-point-charter of demands of the workers to the management of Samsung on July 11 and urged for negotiation but the company refused stating that it does not allow or accept any union as a matter of policy. "Such a policy is contrary to the industrial labour laws of India. Hope the committee appreciates any such non-compliance by a company which it is statutorily bound to comply, is in contravention of not only the laws of the land but also of ILO labour standards," he noted.

He pointed out that the Samsung management objected in writing to the naming and usage of "Samsung" in the nomenclature of the union. They orally objected to the CITU leadership finding a place in the list of officers of the SIWU and about the registered address of the union. The leader claimed that the Registrar of Trade Unions succumbed to the MNC’s pressure tactics.

The CITU general secretary said that the SIWU served strike notice on August 19 and went on strike from September 9 in which 1,450 out of 1,810 workers took part. Accusing Samsung, an MNC, of exerting undue influence on the statutory authority empowered to register the trade union, he said that the company management in its desperate attempt of busting the majority workers union - SIWU has floated a pro-management minuscule minority so-called works committee.

The Left leader stated that the management signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoU) with the so-called workers union, a puppet at the hand of the management, on October 7. Such manipulation is an unfair labour practice as per the Industrial Dispute Act and also as per the ILO's labour standards, he claimed. He sought the intervention of the committee and to initiate a complaint procedure against Samsung as per Article 26 of the ILO and related provisions for violation of ILO and union-busting activities.