Chennai: Workers protest against Samsung enters 11th day; protestors ask state government to fulfill demands

Chennai: The Samsung employees protest on Thursday entered its 11th day at Sungavachatiram near Sriperambathur on the outskirts of Chennai in Kanchipuram District.
Muthukumar, CITU, Tamil Nadu State Secretary, said that the Samsung management has initiated a case in the Kanchipuram court that the protestors should sit 500 meters away from the premises, while they are already sitting two kms away.
Muthukumar said "The Samsung management has initiated a case in the Kanchipuram court that we should sit 500 metres away from their premises but we are nearly two kms away and blamed us saying that the striking employees have been indulging in brainwashing the employees who have been going to work."
The Union leader claimed that the company had yet to meet its demands and it was time now for the state government of Tamil Nadu to step in.
"Our demands were not met, and we demand the state government to take steps to fulfill our demands. There are many organisations who have come forward to support our protest. We will continue our protest till our demands are fulfilled. We CITU will also protest near the gates of the companies in Sriperambathur area," he added.
The workers, led by union head E. Muthukumar, have been demanding better wages and improved working conditions. Hundreds of striking Samsung employees have been sitting outside the plant in their company uniforms.
The first and second rounds of talks failed with the state labour department and labour minister in the Secretariat last week. Earlier on Monday, the protestors were detained when they entered Kanchipuram. They were later released in the late evening. A case was filed against more than 100 employees.
CITU, Tamil Nadu State Secretary, Muthukumar said, "Our demands were not met and the management has urged us to disband the union. They are hindering the recognition of the union by raising complaints. When the union decided to stop overtime, the management forced employees to work overtime for up to 11 hours."