In a major relief to General Motors India, the agitating workers at its Halol plant in Gujarat (near Vadodara) today called off their strike, with the company agreeing to address the wage revision issue within a month. Around 900 employees who had gone on strike since Friday, demanding higher wages, have reported back to work.
A worker at the plant maintained, “We do not want to create a negative environment for the industry here.”
GM India claimed the workers had resumed work ‘unconditionally’. P Balendran, director and vice president, corporate affairs, said, “All the workers are back on work and both the shifts are operational. We will discuss about their demand of a wage revision.”
He said no memorandum of understanding (MoU) had been signed between the management and the workers.
Contrary to this, a worker at the plant said, on condition of anonymity, that an MoU had been signed, according to which GM India had agreed to resolve the issue of a pay rise within a month. He also said, “We have already moved an application to register a labour union at the plant and 100 per cent of workers have enrolled for it. Workers at GM’s Talegaon (near Pune) unit, too, formed a labour union a few days before.”
According to workers, they have received pay revisions in the range of Rs 300-500 per year for the last three years, and currently their salaries are Rs 7,000-8,000 a month. “Average pay in the automotive industry is around Rs 10,000-12,000 per month; we are far behind,” claimed a Halol worker.
Labour department officials were keeping track of the situation and have actively participated to see the issue was resolved. K O Shah, deputy labour commissioner of Vadodara, said, “Both parties have agreed to consider each other’s perspectives. However, resumption of work was important. A mutually acceptable solution to the wage revision issue is likely to be worked out within a month’s time. Talks are on. The process would be expedited post Diwali.”
Sources revealed that while the workers had demanded a 100 per cent raise in pay, the company had agreed to offer a 50 per cent revision. Both parties are likely to settle for a ‘middle-of-the-road’ solution.
K O Shah maintained, “In our discussions with the workers at the Halol plant, we tried to convince them that the state’s industry-friendly image should not get affected in this issue, and they did respond positively.”
