The workers' strike at Apollo Tyre's Waghodia plant near Vadodara has been declared illegal by the Gujarat government, a senior state government official informed. As a fallout of which, now the company can go for fresh hiring if workers do not resume work within a stipulated time.
K O Shah, deputy labour commissioner, labour department, government of Gujarat said, "The strike has been declared illegal by the state government, also the company management has prohibited the strike."
His department had sent a proposal to the state labour department to declare the strike as illegal after the workers violated the memorandum of understanding signed last Saturday and stayed away from work.
"There were several rounds of meetings till late night on Wednesday, but a solution has not been reached yet. We are working closely with both parties to reach an amicable solution, Meanwhile, the strike has been declared illegal", Shah said. He explained that once a labour strike has been declared illegal, the first condition is that workers have to immediately report to work, failing which the management can take a decision to go for fresh hiring.
While the company is yet to declare whether it would hire temporary workers at the plant, sources close to the development say that Apollo is likely to go for fresh hiring.
Workers at the plant had gone on strike from October 23 demanding recognition to a newly formed labour union at the plant called the Bhartiya Majdoor Sangh (BMS). They also demanded re-instatement of two suspended workers at the plant. An MoU was signed between the company and the striking workers on November 3 according to which they were supposed to report back to work from second shift of operations on Sunday, November 4.
However, the workers violated the MoU and stayed away from work, saying that their demands should be met first. "At present, they are demanding that they be paid full wages for the period of the strike during which they stayed away from work", Shah informed.
Around 700 workers are on strike at the nylon tyres plant at Apollo Waghodia unit. Around 500 workers are working at the nylon tyres plant, while the radial tyres unit within the same premises is functioning properly.
