For nearly three weeks, hundreds of employees clad in Samsung Electronics’ signature blue uniforms have walked off the job and staged a protest in tents outside the company’s home appliance factory in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The strike began on Sept. 9 and has entered its 18th day as of Sept. 26.
Chennai is Samsung Electronics’ main production base for home appliances in India, manufacturing televisions, refrigerators, and washing machines. The Chennai plant employs over 2,000 workers and accounts for 19% of the company’s annual $12 billion revenue in India. Around 1,000 workers are currently on strike, demanding higher wages and formal union recognition. Although some workers have returned to work, the situation remains tense as hardliners still insist on an “indefinite strike.”
India emerged as a viable alternative to China, the “world’s factory,” where labor costs have risen. Samsung Electronics first entered the Indian market in 1995 and has continued to expand its production capacity in the country, focusing on smartphones and home appliances. With a large domestic market, low wages, and a young workforce with an average age of 28, the country was considered an attractive production hub for global companies. But recent strikes and labor disputes have cast a shadow over its allure.
Workers at Samsung’s Chennai plant currently earn an average monthly wage of 35,000 rupees (around 55,000 won, or $42), according to Samsung Electronics. The striking workers are demanding a 100% wage increase within the next three years, which is an additional 36,000 rupees per month. They have also called for reducing the current six-day, 48-hour workweek to a five-day, 35-hour workweek even though India’s labor law mandates a standard 48-hour workweek. Essentially, they are asking to reduce working hours by 13 hours per week while doubling their wages.
Samsung has pointed out that its workers already earn 1.8 times the average wage for manufacturing workers in Chennai, about 19,000 rupees. Workers are demanding the company hire a family member in the event of an employee’s death and provide 50,000 rupees annually in private school tuition support.
The strike is led by the Samsung India Labor and Welfare Union (SILWU), affiliated with the Center for Indian Trade Unions (CITU), a local hardline labor organization supported by the Communist Party of India. The protest site is peppered with red flags bearing the hammer and sickle emblem, a symbol of the Communist Party.
“In India, competition among unions is fierce,” said a local company official. “The CITU, known for its hardline stance, often makes unreasonable demands to attract workers and lead strikes, posing a significant threat to global companies operating locally.” Unions backed by CITU have already been established in the Indian offices of global companies such as Hyundai Motor and Lotte.
The Indian government has been actively promoting its “Make In India” initiative, offering various incentives to attract global companies to set up manufacturing operations in the country. South Korea ranks the 13th largest investor in India, with a total investment of $10.63 billion between 1980 and 2023.
However, recent large-scale protests threaten to undermine India’s attractiveness as a manufacturing hub. “Global companies invested in India for its low wages, abundant labor force, and vast domestic market,” said an official from a company with local operations. “If the current labor disputes continue and wages rise sharply, the incentive to invest will inevitably decline.”
Samsung is not the only global company plagued by hardline unions and large-scale walkouts. Hyundai Motor has been dealing with an informal union backed by the CITU since 2007. Over the years, the union has repeatedly demanded wage hikes and the reinstatement of laid-off workers, staging strikes in 2010, 2012, and 2019. Most recently, in July, a walkout further complicated Hyundai’s plans to acquire a former GM plant in the region, with union demands stalling negotiations.
