Workers at Samsung's Sriperumbudur factory near Chennai in Tamil Nadu have won official registration of their union, the Samsung Indian Workers' Union (SIWU). It is the second Samsung workers' union in Asia after South Korea's National Samsung Electronics Union was established in 2022. Electronics Watch staff met with them last year as part of our ongoing work to build relationships with trade unions in production regions around the world.

Samsung is one of the world's largest electronics companies. Its Sriperumbudur plant produces consumer goods including televisions, refrigerators, and washing machines, and employs almost 1,800 workers. They first applied for union registration under India's Trade Unions Act in June 2024, which stipulates that a decision must be made within 45 days. When the registration was delayed, workers went on strike to demand higher wages, improved conditions, and recognition of their union.

After Samsung management reached an agreement with the workers, the Tamil Nadu government finally registered the SIWU. Workers held a victory rally to celebrate official notification of the registration on January 27.

"One hundred and six years ago, in 1918, the Madras Labour Union became the country's first workers' union. Today, the city makes history again," SIWU president E. Muthukumar said in Frontline.

Recognition of the new union is a major triumph for workers' rights in India and particularly in the Sriperumbudur Special Economic Zone (SEZ) where the Samsung plant is based. The SEZ is home to many other electronics factories and SIWU's victory has sparked organising initiatives in several of them.

The Sriperumbudur SEZ houses many factories in Electronics Watch affiliates' supply chains. If nearby factories respond to new organising with respect for freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, then workers across the zone stand a better chance of seeing their rights respected too.