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Even as many employees at Toyota Kirloskar Motor’s two manufacturing plants in Bidadi, 35-km from here, have refused to sign a good-conduct undertaking and return to work, the company has resumed production of passenger cars at the plants by engaging contract workers, apprentices, supervisors and engineers.
Currently, about 1,500 contract workers and 2,000 apprentices, besides 800 supervisors and engineers, are involved with production.
The company claimed about 200 workers had signed the undertaking and returned to work on Monday. However, unwilling to sign any such undertaking, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Employees Union (TKMEU) members hadn’t returned to work, union sources told Business Standard.
| SALARY STRUCTURE |
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GRADE-8 WORKERS Rs 41,370 a month (those who joined in 2005-06). These workers, 4,200 of the overall 10,000, were demanding a rise of Rs 8,500 a month, but settled for Rs 4,000 a month. The company was offering a rise of Rs 3,050 a month CONTRACT WORKERS Rs 8,000 a month AVERAGE MONTHLY SALARY AT HYUNDAI Rs 43,000 (for those with 15 years of experience)* AVERAGE MONTHLY SALARY AT BOSCH Rs 40,000*# |
“It’s absolutely untrue that Toyota is running its plants using 1,000 contract workers and 2,000 apprentices. We have started limited plant operations with the help of non-union members, of whom most are supervisors and engineers,” the company said in a statement.
R Satish, general-secretary, TKMEU, said, “Today (Tuesday), none of our workers entered the factory to join work. None of our members have signed any undertaking. The company is giving misleading information. They have engaged contract workers on the production work, illegally. Actually, contract workers are not supposed to work on the shop floor and are involved only for soft jobs such as packaging.”
Together, the two Toyota Kirloskar Motor plants have an installed capacity to produce 720 vehicles a day. But due to weak consumer sentiment and reduced sales in the past year, the company had reduced production to about 540 vehicles a day. Company sources didn’t confirm how many cars were being produced with the skeletal workforce at the factory.
Company sources said Toyota’s dealers were running out of stock and customers might have to wait for deliveries if production wasn’t ramped up immediately.
Salary structure
TKMEU has complained Toyota’s salary structure is far lower compared to those of other car manufacturers such as Hyundai, Maruti, Honda and Mahindra. At Toyota, the average salary of an employee with 15 years of experience was Rs 33,000 a month, compared with Rs 43,000 in Hyundai Motor, Satish said.
According to Toyota Kirloskar, the average wage of mid-batch team members (who joined in 2005-06) of grade-8 (workmen) is Rs 25,450 a month, while the cost-to-company (including benefits) is Rs 41,730. For grade-8, the average annual increase in salaries in the last four years is Rs 3,000. In the last 11 years, the monthly gross salary of a grade-8 member has increased from Rs 4,997 to Rs 34,139 (2012-13).
Satish said contract workers were paid Rs 8,000 a month.
The human resources head of a large two-wheeler manufacturer said, “The workers’ demand for a rise of Rs 8,500 a month is towards the higher side because at Toyota, wages are revised every year; the standard practice in the industry is once every three years. Also, it isn’t fair to compare the salaries at Toyota with others’ because wages are based on various parameters.”
