Indian state minister to meet Samsung officials in bid to resolve strike

The labour minister of India's southern state of Tamil Nadu is set to hold talks on Thursday with officials of Samsung Electronics, in a bid to resolve a strike that has disrupted its consumer electronics plant for four days.

Hundreds of workers at the plant in Sriperumbudur near the industrial city of Chennai have boycotted work to seek higher wages in one of India's biggest incidents of industrial unrest in recent years.

"The government is sincere to resolve (the strike)," the state's Labour Secretary K. Veera Raghava Rao told Reuters by telephone.

He added that the state's Labour Minister C.V. Ganesan and other officials would meet Samsung's leadership in Chennai to find a resolution.

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

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

The South Asian nation is a key growth market for the South Korean company, the biggest player in India's consumer electronics industry.

It was not clear which Samsung representatives would attend 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, who have been sitting in protest in a makeshift tent near the factory, 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.