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Nokia employees protest with 1-day hunger strike
CHENNAI: Hundreds of Nokia employees, mostly women, staged a hunger strike on Monday seeking government intervention to ensure a hassle-free transfer of the Sriperumbudur plant to Microsoft.
The Nokia workers staged a hunger strike near the State Guest House in Chepauk, led by M Saravana Kumar, president of Nokia India Thozhilalar Sangam, the workers' union. He said nearly 4,000 people participated in the fast, half of whom were women. The protest continued till evening.
In a global transaction last September, Nokia had announced the sale of its handset business, including its Sriperumbudur plant, to Microsoft and the deal deadline is March 31. Many cases and tax disputes arose after the deal with Microsoft was announced, leaving a question mark over the fate of the manufacturing plant.
Nokia, in its statement on Monday, said the protest was meant "to raise the awareness of state and national government officials over the ongoing tax dispute" and further said it has "worked closely with Indian employee groups ever since our assets were frozen by the country's tax department in September - the main union even joined Nokia in its legal proceedings against the tax authorities - and we will continue to conduct an open dialogue as we navigate through this challenging time."
Nokia's Sriperumbudur factory employs nearly 8,000 workers directly and around 30,000 indirectly. Monday was declared as leave at the Nokia factory, said Kumar.
"We are protesting, asking the government to not grant permission for retrenchment of workers or closure of the factory," said A Soundararajan, MLA and state general secretary of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU).
The production at the factory has fallen in recent months with union leaders claiming that work has been moved out to factories in countries like China and Vietnam. Recently, work related to the Asha series of phones was also moved out. The number of shifts has also been reduced to two from the earlier three.
Nokia employees protest with 1-day hunger strike - The Times of India
CHENNAI: Hundreds of Nokia employees, mostly women, staged a hunger strike on Monday seeking government intervention to ensure a hassle-free transfer of the Sriperumbudur plant to Microsoft.
The Nokia workers staged a hunger strike near the State Guest House in Chepauk, led by M Saravana Kumar, president of Nokia India Thozhilalar Sangam, the workers' union. He said nearly 4,000 people participated in the fast, half of whom were women. The protest continued till evening.
In a global transaction last September, Nokia had announced the sale of its handset business, including its Sriperumbudur plant, to Microsoft and the deal deadline is March 31. Many cases and tax disputes arose after the deal with Microsoft was announced, leaving a question mark over the fate of the manufacturing plant.
Nokia, in its statement on Monday, said the protest was meant "to raise the awareness of state and national government officials over the ongoing tax dispute" and further said it has "worked closely with Indian employee groups ever since our assets were frozen by the country's tax department in September - the main union even joined Nokia in its legal proceedings against the tax authorities - and we will continue to conduct an open dialogue as we navigate through this challenging time."
Nokia's Sriperumbudur factory employs nearly 8,000 workers directly and around 30,000 indirectly. Monday was declared as leave at the Nokia factory, said Kumar.
"We are protesting, asking the government to not grant permission for retrenchment of workers or closure of the factory," said A Soundararajan, MLA and state general secretary of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU).
The production at the factory has fallen in recent months with union leaders claiming that work has been moved out to factories in countries like China and Vietnam. Recently, work related to the Asha series of phones was also moved out. The number of shifts has also been reduced to two from the earlier three.
Nokia employees protest with 1-day hunger strike - The Times of India