Mass Detention of Samsung Protesters Escalates Labor Unrest in India

Police detained 104 workers from a Samsung Electronics plant in southern India during a protest over low wages. The strike, ongoing for a week, disrupts significant production and clashes with India's 'Make in India' initiative. Workers demand better wages, union recognition, and improved conditions.

Police have detained 104 workers striking over low wages at a Samsung Electronics plant in southern India. According to officials, the workers were planning an unauthorized march on Monday, escalating an ongoing labor dispute at the company's home appliance plant near Chennai in Tamil Nadu. The workers have been boycotting work for a week, significantly disrupting production that contributes to Samsung's annual India revenue of $12 billion.

The Samsung protests challenge Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' initiative, aimed at attracting foreign investments and increasing electronics production to $500 billion in six years. Foreign firms, attracted by cheap Indian labor, are looking to diversify their supply chains beyond China. The planned march was halted due to concerns about public disruptions in an area with schools, colleges, and hospitals, said Kancheepuram district police officer K. Shanmugam.

'It is a main area which would become totally paralyzed and disturb public peace,' Shanmugam said, adding that the detained workers were housed in wedding halls due to space limitations in police stations. Workers demand higher pay, union recognition by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), and better working conditions. Samsung, opposed to recognizing a CITU-backed union, has yet to resolve the dispute.

(With inputs from agencies.)