Bajaj Auto plant in Chakan has remained shut for the last three days. Workers have stopped working and there is no sign of any industrial activity around the campus. A police van has been parked outside the gate as a precaution.
Spread over 300 acres of land, the plant was operational since 1999. Over 2,000 workers are engaged in this facility to manufacture 1.2 million units of motorcycles annually, which includes the Pulsar, Avenger, Ninja and KTM brands. The security guard at the gate informed that there is not single worker inside the factory and production has stopped completely. Not a single bike has been produced in the last two days.
Spread over 300 acres of land, the plant was operational since 1999. Over 2,000 workers are engaged in this facility to manufacture 1.2 million units of motorcycles annually, which includes the Pulsar, Avenger, Ninja and KTM brands. The security guard at the gate informed that there is not single worker inside the factory and production has stopped completely. Not a single bike has been produced in the last two days.
The material handling gate which is few meters away from the main factory gate, observes the same situation. There is hardly any movement of vehicles which are usally sen carrying material, spare inside the plant. Few policemen and security guards are patrolling at the gate.
According to Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sanghatana (VKKS), the company's only and independent trade union founded in January 2010, workers are experiencing tremendous harassment while working in the plant.
Workers are bound by excessive workload, the management has made overtime mandatory and refuses to pay overtime. The wages paid to workers are relatively low and they are getting very low annual pay hikes. Also, based on fabricated performance reports, the management has started issuing warning letters, show cause notices, pending enquiries, dismissals and suspensions.
“We are always in the favour of company and we are strictly against any kind of violence or any unrest in the company. We do not want to repeat Manesar like situation in Chakan. So we are not protesting or there is no agitation against the management”, says Dilip Pawar, president, Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sanghatana.
“The workers have not gone on strike, we have stopped the work. It could not be called as a strike”, explains Pawar. Over 17 workers of various lines like engine, vehicle and aluminum shop have been complained against the plant management of the factory at Chakan Police Station from January 2013 to May 2013.
Pantnagar Issue:
According to Pawar, the management is creating unnecessary trouble only because of Pant nagar issue. Since its inception in 2007, the Pant nagar plant workers were facing various issues. The workers agitated in May 2012 as it was the outburst of the anger against management. Some of the workers approached VKKS to support them. As a result, the union offered them membership and majority of the workers at Pant nagar joined VKKS. The management was not in the favour of joining Pantangar workers VKKS and refused the demands of union. After, a legal fight over this issue in the High Court, Mumbai, the Court issued a judgement in favour of VKSS and directed the Department of Labour, Uttarakhand to start the conciliation process with VKSS.
Pawar added, “ From June 2012, after the Pantnagar episode happened, there was change in management’s behavior and since then, it is harassing workers.”
According to Union, over 22 workers are suspended, eight are under pending enquiry suspension, show cause notices are issued to two, three are under domestic enquiry and one has been terminated by the management.
Pawar adds, “ We are open for discussions and all the workers have tremendous faith in work. There is no communication between the top management and the union. There is hardly any dialogue between managing director and union.”
When Business Standard contacted few workers of Bajaj Auto, they raised issues of safety while working in the factory. However, they have not disclosed their identity.
“We are working for 10 to 12 hours. There is tremendous irregularity in the work distribution. The work hours are not fixed”, said a worker
These workers are working either on contract basis or under earn and learn scheme and some of them are trainee workers. There are more than 600 workers who are not direct employees of Bajaj Auto Ltd.
