After 38 days of protests and a seven-month legal battle, workers at Samsung’s Tamil Nadu plant have achieved a landmark victory with the registration of India’s first Samsung workers’ union. The Samsung India Workers’ Union (SIWU) was officially registered on January 27, breaking the company’s longstanding “no-union” policy.
Over 1,000 workers at the Sunguvarchatram plant, which manufactures televisions and home appliances, faced significant opposition including arrests and the dismantling of protest sites. Despite these challenges, they persisted with support from major trade unions across India and solidarity from South Korea’s Samsung union.
“This goes beyond money or welfare. It’s about our fundamental right to form a union,” said E. Muthukumar, SIWU president. The union now represents 1,350 of the plant’s 1,850 workers, marking only the second successful unionisation at a Samsung facility worldwide, following South Korea’s example.
