Strike hits production work at Nokia’s factory

nokiaWorkers' unrest erupted at Nokia's factory in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, over the issue of wages and resentment against management, on Friday. The employees called for a 10-hour strike, which was lifted only after getting assurance from the management and labor department that their grievances would be duly addressed.

Earlier, the worker union rejected a pay proposal made by management and sought justified salary revision. An employee said: "The strike was launched after the management revised salaries on Thursday. The strike began early morning after the first shift employees finished their work and the other workers joined them as they came in for work. There was no production in any of the departments."

The strike by 8000 staff members is said to have halted the production of 300,000 handsets in the factory. However, Nokia spokesperson said that workers' turnout in the strike was considerably low, and did not affect the production at the plant.

The company said: "Nokia internally announced salary increases as part of its salary review process for its operator employees at the Chennai factory. However, some of the employees were dissatisfied resulting in disruption of work. Normal operations were restored shortly thereafter."