On May 4, the South Korean media "Energy Economics" published an article stating that amid global companies actively entering India to cope with the "tariff war", Samsung Electronics, despite establishing production bases, is struggling. With the deepening of conflicts with the union, strikes and protest activities are constantly occurring, hindering Samsung's development, and the uncertainty of operations is increasing.
According to local Indian media reports, the union of Samsung Electronics India located in Chennai recently announced a strike at a major consumer goods factory. Although the specific timetable has not been released, production disruption seems unavoidable for a period of time. Since February 5, they have held a sit-in for about a month at the factory and other locations. The protest activities were withdrawn on March 7, but this time they have played the stronger strike card.
Samsung Electronics has production facilities in Sriperumbudur and Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The company produces various products including smartphones, televisions, refrigerators, refrigerator compressors, and washing machines.
Collective actions by Samsung Electronics India Union are not recent events. In September and October last year, members of the Samsung India Workers' Union (SIWU) at the Sriperumbudur factory went on strike for about a month. At that time, more than 1000 out of 1800 employees participated in the strike.
The main reason for the conflict between labor and management is wage increases and the cancellation of employee resignation measures. Similar situations have occurred in most companies since last year. It was reported that until recently, union members continued to protest, calling for the reinstatement of 23 employees who were dismissed and allowing them to return to work. Samsung Electronics requested government intervention, but side effects such as clashes between protesters and police and multiple arrests also occurred. This means that labor and management have been unable to resolve complex issues over the past year.
A bigger problem is that the All-India trade union federation, the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), has targeted Samsung Electronics. CITU continues to participate in the strike activities of the union members of Samsung Electronics India. In February this year, they also planned to hold protests and strikes in front of the Samsung showroom in Ganjam. This seems to create an atmosphere of boycotting Samsung products. According to local media reports, as Indian workers' demands continue to rise, protests against multinational corporations are increasing, and Samsung Electronics faces challenges.
India is a populous country, not only as a domestic demand market but also as an export base, it is considered a country with many advantages, such as very low labor costs.
For South Korean companies, India is a "land full of opportunities". Hyundai and Kia are actively expanding and investing in local factories to increase market share.
However, due to strike movements, South Korean companies also face significant challenges in India.
Original Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1831156965526601/
Disclaimer: The article solely represents the author's personal views.