Chennai two-wheeler plants' worker protests move to HC, labour commissioner

Factories of Royal Enfield, Yamaha and Myoung Shin Automotive India have been hit by workers' protests

As a cross-section of workers has continued to stay away from work at Royal Enfield, Yamaha and Myoung Shin Automotive India Pvt Ltd (MSI), a supplier of Hyundai, the matter has now moved to the Madras High Court, apart from the complaints in the Labour Commissioner office. Workers are protesting against their respective managements for not allowing them to form unions and not issuing bonus and other allowances.     

Sources close to the Yamaha management have said that the company has knocked on the doors of the Madras High Court against the workers' protest. In the petition, the company has stated that the strike is illegal and the protest should be 200 metres away from the company's premises.

An email sent to the company for an official response on the development and production loss due to the workers' protest did not elicit a response immediately. 

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, union members, mainly from the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), and unions from the neighbouring factories extended support to Yamaha employees and staged a protest against the company's management.

S Kannan, district president, Kanchipuram, CITU, said that the company did not come forward for talks and the workers in India Yamaha Motor were continuing the protest. 

At Yamaha Motor India's Oragadam plant, around 750 permanent workers, out of a total of around 800 workers, went on strike after the company allegedly sacked a few of the employees. 

Workers in the company's facility have applied to form a union, India Yamaha Motor Thozhilalar Sangam, and have also submitted a complaint under Section 2K of the Labour Act with the State Labour Department. 

Kannan added that the factory has a capacity of around 2,200 units in two shifts a day, but with the skilled workers not cooperating, only around 200-300 units are being produced a day. There are around 2,000 contract workers and trainees who are currently working, but they might not have the skills to complete the works at the pace at which the skilled permanent workers would be able to execute, he said. 

Meanwhile, the Labour Commissioner Office has called for a tripartite meeting in the Royal Enfield issue on Wednesday. 

Royal Enfield's Oragadam factory problem started after four employees were sacked for forming a union. 

R Sampath, vice-president of Royal Enfield Employees Union, which is part of the Working People Trade Union Council (WPTUC), said that the trade union has been in the process of registering the company-specific union and has raised demands for wage settlement and a charter of demands. It had also served a strike notice on May 13, 2018.

A total of 6,200 workers, including the 740 permanent workers in Orgadam, contract workers and trainees, are on strike. With this, production in the Oragadam factory has completely stopped, affecting 750 units of vehicles a day, while in Vallam, where the normal production is around 600 units, around 300 units were produced on Tuesday, he said. 

An email sent to Royal Enfield on Tuesday was not answered. On Monday, the company said, "A majority of associate engineers are fully engaged in performing their roles; some of them did not report for work, though they were present in the facility. We have forums that address matters related to the well being of workmen and are working to understand the issue that compelled a few workmen to refrain from reporting for work today. We are hopeful of arriving at a mutually beneficial solution." 

Similarly, the protest at Myoung Shin Automotive India Pvt Ltd (MSI), which produces chassis and doors and is a Tier-1 supplier to Hyundai, continued. Sources in the company have said senior executives are working in the field to ensure that the supply disruption doesn't hit Hyundai. Here also, workers are trying to form a union.