Samsung workers to continue India plant strike after talks end without deal

By Praveen Paramasivam

SRIPERUMBUDUR (Reuters) -Samsung Electronics employees will continue their strike for the fifth day after a meeting on Thursday between their union, the company's management and the state government could not reach any settlement, a union leader told Reuters.

Appliances including televisions, refrigerators and washing machines are made at the plant, which contributes 20% to 30% of Samsung Electronics' annual revenue of $12 billion in India.

The South Korean group is the biggest player in the consumer electronics industry in India, which is a key growth market for the company.

Tamil Nadu's labour minister held talks with union representatives and Samsung officials in a bid to resolve a strike which has disrupted the plant near Chennai for four days.

Hundreds of workers are seeking higher wages in one of India's biggest incidents of industrial unrest in recent years .

"They (Samsung management) asked us to stop striking, but wouldn't recognise the union or talk to us, so the strike continues," said union leader E. Muthukumar.

Many workers wearing Samsung's blue uniform shirt were seen sitting inside a makeshift tent near the factory, which employs around 1,800 people.

The talks on Thursday involved the southern Indian state's Labour Minister C.V. Ganesan, Labour Secretary K. Veera Raghava Rao, union representatives and Samsung officials.

"The government is sincere to resolve (the strike)," Rao had told Reuters earlier. Later calls to Rao went unanswered.

Samsung officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It was not clear which Samsung representatives attended the meeting. Reuters reported this week that JB Park, the company's chief executive for Southwest Asia, had visited the state along with senior officials, aiming to resolve the matter.

The workers want Samsung to recognise their union, boost wages and cut working hours.

Samsung India actively engaged with workers "to address any grievances they may have and comply with all laws and regulations", a company spokesperson said on Monday.

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam; Writing by Dhwani Pandya; Editing by Aditya Kalra, Clarence Fernandez and Alexander Smith)