India police detain striking Samsung workers – JURIST

Police in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu detained over a 100 striking workers planning on marching in Chennai on Monday.

The workers, who are employees of Samsung Electronics, were protesting low wages and working conditions. The planned march would allegedly disturb public peace, according to senior police officer K. Shanmugam, who was quoted by Reuters.

Police officials stated that the striking workers were detained because they did not have the necessary permission to march in a busy area which contained schools and hospitals, which would cause a halt to activities in the locality. Senior officer Sanker Ganesan informed Reuters that the protestors had been placed under preventive arrest. This is a provision used in India to detain individuals suspected of intending to commit a crime in the future. Under this provision, the workers need to be released within 24 hours as per Section 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, although it is not clear if preventative arrest was used properly this situation.

Samsung workers have been protesting for over a week now, receiving major support from the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU). At a Samsung facility in Sriperumbudur, one of two in India, workers formed the Samsung India Workers Union (SIWA). The strike began when the workers demanded that the company recognize SIWU as an official union.

Samsung said that they wish to resolve the matter at the earliest in a statement to Reuters, however CITU leader E. Muthukumar told Reuters that the strike will continue until a settlement has been reached.

The detainment has been denounced by several members of CITU, who have stated that they nonetheless intend to continue with the strike, planning a protest in support of the workers on Wednesday.