Chennai

On Monday, Tamil Nadu police detained over 100 Samsung union employees who were planning to march towards the Kanchipuram Collector’s office to press their demands. According to police, the employees were held at Sri Sidheswarar Mahal.

For the past week, the Samsung Employees Union has been protesting for improved wages and working conditions. On Thursday, a union representative met Tamil Nadu Labour Minister C.V. Ganeshan at the Tamil Nadu Secretariat, but no agreement was reached. Following this, the employees continued their protest near the Sunkuwarchatiram factory rather than entering Kanchipuram city.

The employees are also demanding the release of E. Muthukumar, a CITU leader detained by the Kanchipuram police. The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has claimed that the police are detaining employees forcefully.

CITU State President A. Soundarajan met with Kanchipuram Collector Kalaiselvi to submit a petition about the protest. He accused Samsung management of undermining the union and pressuring employees to leave it. Soundarajan criticized the detentions and the arrest of Muthukumar, asserting that forming a union is a fundamental right. He plans to meet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to address the issue further.