Nokia Siemens Network (NSN) is not respecting workers' rights in India. Cividep India and the GoodElectronics Network tried to engage with NSN but found the company unresponsive. This summer, talks between the workers' union and NSN factory management failed. When workers and union representatives staged a protest in front of the NSN factory gate in Oragadam, Sriperumbudur, more then 70 people were arrested. According to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the NSN management took a hardline position, refusing to recognise and engage with the representatives of the Nokia Siemens Networks Workers Union.

Nokia Siemens Network (NSN) is not respecting workers' rights in India. Cividep India and the GoodElectronics Network tried to engage with NSN but found the company unresponsive. This summer, talks between the workers' union and NSN factory management failed. When workers and union representatives staged a protest in front of the NSN factory gate in Oragadam, Sriperumbudur, more then 70 people were arrested. According to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the NSN management took a hardline position, refusing to recognise and engage with the representatives of the Nokia Siemens Networks Workers Union.

Following the failure of talks between the workers' union and factory management, more than 70 workers and union representatives were arrested after protesting in front of the Nokia Siemens Network (NSN) factory gate in Oragadam, Sriperumbudur, India in June 2013. According to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the management took a hardline position, refusing to recognise and engage with the representatives of Nokia Siemens Networks Workers Union.

 

Five workers terminated

NSN has also decided to terminate the employment of five workers suspended last year for engaging in union activities. The workers have been staging protests against the factory relentlessly for more than a year, demanding wage hikes, reinstatement of the suspended workers and recognition of the union.

 

NSN refusal to recognise trade union

In a letter sent to the GoodElectronics Network, Cividep India and Finnwatch, NSN states that it will not recognise a ”politically affiliated” union and that it ”prefers direct discussions and negotiations with employee representatives”. NSN has failed to explain what it conceives to be a politically affiliated union, and whether the employee representatives that are deemed fit for negotiations are democratically elected by
workers or selected by the management.

Refusal to recognise a trade union such as CITU not only constitutes a violation of ILO convention C87 on Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining and Indian labour law, but is also a violation of the company’s own Code of Conduct. The Nokia Siemens Network Code of Conduct (p. 4) clearly states the following – “Among those rights that Nokia Siemens Networks views as fundamental and universal are: freedom from discrimination on any grounds; freedom from arbitrary detention, execution or torture; freedom of peaceful assembly and association; freedom of thought, conscience and religion; and freedom of opinion and expression” [emphasis added].

Freedom of association is an internationally recognised labour right and also recognised as such in the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Companies have a responsibility to respect human rights, including labour rights, and must let workers exercise their right of collective bargaining. It cannot be left to the company to decide whether or not to engage with a democratically elected union.

NSN has further declared that five of the suspended workers have not been re-instated because they have “acted against the code of conduct and violated the company's disciplinary principles”. However, the company has failed to specify which provisions the employees have violated and how.

 

NSN unresponsive

In a letter sent to Nokia Siemens Network on 8 July 2013 on behalf of the GoodElectronics Network and the makeIT fair project, Cividep India and Finnwatch raised serious concerns about the company's statements and actions. NSN has had ample time to respond to the letter and clarify whatever misunderstandings there may have been. However, the only response from NSN has been that all of the 70 arrested workers were released by the police on the same day. It remains unclear whether they have returned to work at NSN and what consequences they may have faced due to their participation in the strike.

 

Current demands

In line with the position of the Nokia Siemens Networks Workers Union, the following demands are formulated to Nokia Siemens Network:

  • Respect workers’ rights to unionise and to bargain collectively
  • Recognise the Nokia Siemens Networks Workers Union
  • Meet workers' demands for an increment in wages so that they are paid a living wage
  • Immediate re-instatement of the five suspended workers.