Associated with the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the Samsung India Workers Union (SIWU) signed a major labor agreement with Samsung India at its manufacturing plant in Sriperumbudur on the outskirst of Chennai. The milestone deal ends an eight month long labor dispute with protests, sit ins, over demands for wage revisions and improved employee welfare provisions.
The agreement, finalized on May 20, 2025, in the presence of Tamil Nadu Labour Minister C.V. Ganesan states a three year wage hike from ₹18,000. The employees would get ₹9,000 in fiscal year 2025–26 and then by ₹4,500 in each the next two years. Moreover, experience based salary increments of ₹1,000 to ₹4,000 will be overlain across the same duration on workers who have a minimum service duration.
The agreement includes a one time promotion of operators and technicians who have completed 6 years continuous service by March 31, 2025, but have not been promoted so far. This will put to rest long standing questions of career advancement and recognition in the ranks of the company.
The pact also includes several welfare enhancements intended to enhance working condition. Recently we have made these improvements such as posting more leave benefits, enhanced food services, more insurance coverage and air conditioned transportation for our employees. The aim is to raise the work environment and more employee centric approach by the company.
This is of great value given the strategic importance of the Sriperumbudur facility which employs more than 2,000 workers. Samsung’s India operations have a plant which manufactures the refrigerators, televisions and washing machines, among major products. In the Indian market, it contributed 20 percent of the company’s $12 billion sales in 2022–23.
It’s not the first labor unrest the facility has seen. Similar issues like wage and union rights recognition led to a five week strike in September of 2024. Therefore, the current agreement is a social achievement of the management, union representatives and the Tamil Nadu government which ensures industrial peace and satisfaction of the employees.
Samsung will invest ₹10 billion ($117 billion) into the Sriperumbudur plant going forward. The fund infill will be used for capacity expansion and for creating 100 new jobs, underlining the company’s commitment to the Indian manufacturing space and long term employment generation.
One of the only high profile labor pact in India, the pact is a turning point in employee relations at Samsung’s Chennai factory, where it represents the firm inching in to acknowledge demands of workers and also the firm’s continued place as a key manufacturer and employer in India.
