Claas India may leave Faridabad

Strike likely to force decision

Faridabad-based multinational firm Claas India Ltd has said it will consider relocating its plant or even closing down operations if the nearly 100-strong group of employees continued their three-month strike for a revision of wages.

The strike has forced the firm to hire contract workers with police protection to carry on production.

Until December 2002, the company was a joint venture between the Escorts Group and Claas, a German agri-equipment manufacturer. In India, the company manufactures harvestors for combiner machines.

Trouble between the employees and Claas India's management started when the workers continued to be part of the powerful All Escorts Employees Union (AEEU) even after Escorts sold its 51 per cent stake in the joint venture.

"We are ready to talk to our employees and meet their demands provided they come out of the Union. The union's decision to retain members from a company that is no longer part of the group is incorrect and is unacceptable even to the Registrar of Trade Unions, Haryana," said N K Chaturvedi, head, human relations and industrial relations, Claas India.

Thereafter, the union went to the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the case is still pending.

But Claas India is also firm on its stand that it will not negotiate with an external union and is willing to give its striking employees some more time before taking a decision on its continuance in Faridabad.

Chaturvedi said the union was provoking the employees to adopt a confrontationist stand. "They are now displaying a ruffian and violent attitude," he added.

Two other Faridabad-based multinational corporations""Yamaha Motor and JCB""have gone through similar problems when Escorts exited from joint ventures with both the companies.

But they have managed to distance their employees from the All Escorts Employees Union.

"This is a crucial phase for our business. After the exit of Escorts, we had drawn up a blueprint for speedy growth and our parent is very bullish about the Indian market. But this problem is a big setback," Chaturvedi said.

Claas India had a turnover of close to Rs 100 crore last year and employs more than 250 people at its Faridabad plant.