Credit for a swift end to the strike at GM’s unit goes to the state’s labour dept
Ever since the four-day strike by workers at the General Motors plant was called off last week, it’s been business as usual in Halol, a tiny industrial hub 30 km from Vadodara. Indeed, on the surface at least, things have been calm with hardly any discontent discernable through the air of normalcy.
GM’s workers had gone on strike on Friday, October 29, to demand higher wages. Negotiations between management and workers — mediated by district labour department officials — started from Saturday and company officials were hopeful that work would resume from Monday. While that did not happen, a fresh round of talks ensured that production at the plant resumed from Tuesday, November 2.
So, how did both parties agree to a workable solution so soon? K O Shah, deputy commissioner of labour, Vadodara district labour department, says things could have been resolved even sooner. “We were at a national-level conference in Ahmedabad when we got the news of the strike at Halol. Hence, we could only step in on Saturday,” he explains.
Workers at the plant had been in talks with the management for the last six months, demanding a doubling of wages. The company, on the other hand, agreed to offer a 50 per cent hike. The workers rejected this offer and struck work.
| TOOLS DOWN |
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| Jewel Consumer Care August, 2009 2 weeks Workers went on strike demanding higher wages at the time of contract renewal. Situation brought under control by mediation by district labour department |
| Thermax July 17, 2010 4-5 days Workers protested against laying off of contractual labourers. Shots fired in air by security guard to control agitating workers |
They had even formed a labour union in the plant around a year earlier, but it is yet to be registered. Politically-affiliated labour unions in the region had attempted to woo the GM Halol workers’ union. The staff, however, decided to remain apolitical, which helped resolve things faster.
District labour department officials the relative youth and inexperience of workers contributed to the strike. “Given the 27-28 years average age at the GM plant, workers here are relatively less exposed to the intricacies of labour laws and, hence, took a hasty decision. However, they have been prudent enough to spot the pitfalls of a politically-motivated agitation, where it is difficult to overcome vested interests,” said another district labour department official.
The swift resumption of work at the GM plant — and similar cases elsewhere in the state — could boost Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s confidence when he hard-sells Gujarat to potential investors at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit in January. Gujarat leads the country when it comes to man-days lost due to labour unrest: 0.52 per cent, compared with 5 per cent in neighbouring Maharashtra.
This is even more creditable, given that Gujarat’s state labour department has only 33 officials, against the 101 posts available across districts. Yet, despite being woefully understaffed, it has met with far more success than in other industrialised states, despite the growing number of strikes in Gujarat.
| MEN AT WORK | ||||||||
| 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | |||||
| Gujarat | India | Gujarat | India | Gujarat | India | Gujarat | India* | |
| Strikes | 16 | 243 | 23 | 210 | 19 | 250 | 27 | 91 |
| Lock-outs | 5 | 187 | 1 | 179 | 9 | 182 | 4 | 31 |
| Man-days lost (‘000) | 100 | 20,330 | 87 | 27,170 | 42 | 17,480 | 32 | 2,890 |
| *Jan-Nov | ||||||||
The department is now keeping a close tab on developments at the GM plant and will be following up with further negotiations. Workers are unlikely to settle for anything less than a 60-70 per cent wage hike. If the company fails to meet the demands, will the unrest resurface? A worker at the Halol plant said that was unlikely. “We do not want to stall production and bring things to a standstill. We are hoping that our demands will be met,” he says.
Halol workers seemed confident of emerging successful from this tussle with the management. That’s understandable, as skilled labour is a prized commodity in the automotive industry. The auto sector has already witnessed a series of labour strikes paralysing work in different parts of the country.
“Workers are in a bargaining position now. With the automobile market booming at a 32 per cent growth this financial year, original equipment manufacturers are under pressure to increase production,” says a senior official in the state labour department.
