Nokia settles pay dispute at Indian plant

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Nokia has settled a pay dispute with employees at its India plant, it said on Wednesday, with work at the plant set to resume immediately.

Nokia's Indian unit said in a statement the employees had agreed to a long-term wage deal first discussed with the company on Monday.

Workers had gone on strike on Tuesday in pursuit of their claim higher pay.

The Nokia factory, near the southern city of Chennai, caters to local and export markets for the world's top cellphone maker. It employs 8,000 people and is one of the company's biggest such factories globally.

A wave of strikes by migrant workers in major Asian economies such as China and India has raised questions over how these countries will preserve their status as low-cost manufacturing bases while avoiding growing discontent among employees.

In an earlier statement on Wednesday Nokia had urged its workers to report for work, saying the strike would harm the company's business interests and the region's competitiveness as a manufacturing destination.

In April Nokia said the Indian plant had produced more than 350 million handsets in its four years of operations.