Bajaj Auto workers at Chakan, Akurdi to go on one-day strike

Bajaj Auto workers at Chakan and Akurdi will go on a one-day hunger strike on Sunday, October 2, to to demand faster settlement of the wage issue and reinstatement of eight dismissed workers after the previous round of wage negotiations.

Vishwa Kalayan Kamgar Sanghatana, the union of workers in Bajaj Auto Limited’s Chakan and Akurdi plants, said in a press release that wage agreement talks for April 2016 to March 2019 period have been going on for the last six months and negotiations for the new agreement have not been successful.

“There is tremendous dissatisfaction over the delay in settlement and we are forced to start the agitation. For now, we are going on a one-day strike on Sunday because we do not want to hit production.” said Dilip Pawar, president, Vishwa Kalayan Kamgar Sanghatana.

Under the nine year agreement, the company was to review wages every three years following a survey of the the state of the industry and the performance of the automotive sector in the region. The agreement was signed in August 2014 and work resumed. The three-year period for this agreement ended in March 2016. In June 2013, workers had gone on a 50-day strike affecting production.

The union will decided on the future course of action after the October 2 hunger strike.

The union is demanding a wage increase of Rs 17,000 to Rs 18,000, where as company is offering below Rs 10,000.

Bajaj Auto has around 1,000 workers at the Chakan and Akurdi plants who will participate in the agitation.

Bajaj Auto manufactures the Pulsar 220, Avenger, KTM at its Chakan plant.