Around 600 employees working at the Halol plant of General Motors in Gujarat have decided to launch an agitation as the company will be stopping production at the plant from tomorrow.
The car manufacturing plant was commissioned near Halol town of Panchmahal district in central Gujarat in 1996.
"As the plant will close down tomorrow, all 600-odd workers who have not relocated to the company's new plant in Talegoan near Pune will take part in a dharna in Halol from tomorrow," president of employees union Rachit Soni told PTI.
"When the company first announced to shift manufacturing facility to Pune in 2015, out of 1100-odd workers, some 400 accepted the transfer. They got a negligible pay hike for relocating. Remaining workers are still here," said Soni.
"General Motors India...Will cease production at Halol manufacturing facility on April 28, 2017, as the company consolidates manufacturing at its Talegaon facility. We will support our employees throughout this transition," GM India President and Managing Director Kaher Kazem had said in a statement on March 7.
Soni said the company offered to give Rs eight to ten lakh each to these employees under a voluntary retirement scheme. Those working at Talegaon plant draw average salary of Rs 50,000 while workers at Halol are paid around Rs 30,000, he alleged.
He said the union had made two demands. "Those who accept VRS should be given Rs 30 lakh as one-time settlement and those opting to move to Talegaon must get a monthly salary of Rs 50,000," said Soni, adding that the state Labour Department had not done anything to solve the workers' problem.
However, state Labour Minister Dilip Thakor claimed that senior officials of his department were trying their best to see that no injustice was done to the employees.
"I had sent my officials to Halol a few days ago to find an amicable solution. We are regularly in touch with the union as well as the company. We are trying best to see that employees do not suffer," said Thakor.
Soni alleged that Labour Department officials were not willing to take up the issue with the company management.
"It is true that officials met us and claimed to have taken up the issue of VRS offer. However, officials then told us that the company has rejected the demand. When we asked them to raise the demand about salary, the officials refused," he said.
Senior officials at the GM Halol plant refused to comment on the issue.
The Gujarat government had told the High Court yesterday that it would examine the legal aspects of the dispute between the company and the employees within four weeks.
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