Workers

Recruitment of Tamil labourers for Ceylon plantations begins

Labourers from the Tirunelveli, Tiruchi, Madurai and Tanjore areas were recruited for British coffee estates in Ceylon.

First emigrant ship from Madras reaches Mauritius

Britain allowed emigration from Madras to Mauritius again in December 1842, and the first ship from Madras reached the island in April 1843.

Indentured labourers from Madras arrive in Natal on the Truro

Organised Indian settlement in the British colony of Natal began with the Truro, which brought 342 indentured labourers from Madras.

Binny's Buckingham Mill begins production in Madras

Registered in 1876, Binny and Co.'s Buckingham Mill went into operation in 1878, and the Carnatic Mills came three years later in 1881.

Coral Mill strike in Tuticorin

Led by V. O. Chidambaram Pillai and Subramania Siva, Coral Mill workers in Tuticorin struck against poor pay and harsh conditions.

Madras Labour Union founded

B. P. Wadia and Thiru. V. Kalyanasundaram founded the Madras Labour Union, among the first organised trade unions in India.

Buckingham and Carnatic Mills strike

Workers of the Buckingham and Carnatic Mills in Madras went on a prolonged strike against Binny and Co. over wages and conditions.

First May Day celebration in India

Singaravelar organised the first May Day celebration in India at Madras and launched the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan.

Singaravelar chairs first Communist conference at Kanpur

M. Singaravelu, a labour leader from Madras, presided over the founding convention of the Communist Party of India in Kanpur.

Golden Rock railway workshop opens at Tiruchirappalli

The South Indian Railway moved its central workshop from Nagapattinam to Golden Rock in Tiruchirappalli.

South Indian Railway strike

Workers of the South Indian Railway struck against planned layoffs of over 3,100 employees, disrupting transport across South India.

Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway strike

Railway workshop workers at Perambur began a strike against retrenchment that spread across the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway.

Thevar jailed during Pasumalai mill strike

Muthuramalinga Thevar was jailed for seven months while leading a strike at the Mahalakshmi Mills in Pasumalai near Madurai.

Sirima-Shastri Pact on people of Indian origin in Ceylon

India and Ceylon agreed that 525,000 stateless people of Indian origin, mostly Tamil plantation workers, would be repatriated to India.

Free dhoti and saree scheme for Pongal

The state began distributing free saris and dhotis to poor families for Pongal, a scheme that also provides work to handloom and power loom weavers.

Construction Workers Welfare Board established

Using its 1982 Manual Workers Act, Tamil Nadu created a construction workers' welfare board financed by a cess on building activity.

Manjolai labourers massacre on the Tamirabarani

Seventeen people, mostly Dalit tea estate workers, died in the Tamirabarani river at Tirunelveli while fleeing a police lathi-charge.

Kodaikanal mercury thermometer factory shut

Protests forced the closure of Hindustan Unilever's mercury thermometer factory at Kodaikanal over contamination.

Mass dismissal of striking government employees under TESMA

The state dismissed between about 170,000 and 200,000 striking government employees and teachers under its Essential Services Maintenance Act.

Foxconn opens plant in Nokia SEZ at Sriperumbudur

Foxconn India opened a factory inside the Nokia Special Economic Zone at Sriperumbudur to supply Nokia, anchoring an electronics cluster near Chennai.

Sivakasi fireworks factory explosion

Forty people died and over 70 were hurt when an explosion hit the Om Sakthi fireworks factory near Sivakasi.

Moulivakkam building collapse

An eleven-storey apartment block under construction collapsed at Moulivakkam in Chennai, killing 61 people, mostly construction workers.

Nokia halts production at Sriperumbudur

Nokia suspended handset production at its Sriperumbudur factory near Chennai after Microsoft ended its manufacturing agreement.

Ford ends car manufacturing in India

Ford announced it would stop manufacturing in India, leading to the closure of its car plant near Chennai.

Samsung workers strike at Sriperumbudur

About 1,500 workers at Samsung's Sriperumbudur plant struck for over a month, seeking recognition of their CITU-backed union.

Kalaignar Kaivinai Thittam for artisans

Tamil Nadu launched its own credit-linked subsidy scheme for artisans in about 25 trades after declining to join the PM Vishwakarma scheme.

Tamil Nadu Assured Pension Scheme announced

State employees were promised an assured pension of half their last-drawn pay by the Stalin government, a scheme close to the old pension.