The Indian unit of mobile handset maker Nokia Corp. said it has resumed work at its plant in the southern Tamil Nadu state, after resolving a long-pending wage dispute.

A long-term wage settlement agreement will be signed Thursday by the government of Tamil Nadu, representatives of the employees’ labor union and the management of Nokia India’s manufacturing facility, the company said in a statement late Wednesday.



The Business Standard newspaper, in a report Wednesday, said production at the plant in Chennai was hit following a strike by its employees.

A Nokia India spokesman refused to confirm whether there was a strike, but said there were “some absenteeism.” In a statement Wednesday, the company had urged the union members to refrain from absenteeism at work. Nokia–which has about 8,000 employees at the plant–has been grappling with labor issues for almost a year now.

In January, operations at the plant was hit by a protest by 1,200 employees against the suspension of 60 employees. Nokia had suspended 60 employees citing misconduct. The issue was later resolved after talks with its labor union, though the suspension, pending inquiry, stayed. The company has now offered to revoke the suspension order of all the employees.

In August, employees at the plant had struck work for 10 hours, seeking higher wages. Production at the Chennai plant–which exports mobile handsets across the globe–had in April crossed 350 million since its inception four year ago.


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