Strike at Bajaj Auto called off `unconditionally’
13 Aug 2013
Striking workers at Bajaj Auto's Chakan plat have called off their strike at the end of nearly one and a half months and production losses of around 20,000-30,000 motorcycles.
The strike has been called off ''unconditionally'' and work will resume from Wednesday, even as the management said it would consider reinstatement of 22 suspended workmen.
In a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Bajaj Auto said it has received a notice from the workmen's union of its Chakan plant, VKKS that the work "stoppage has been withdrawn and all the workmen at Chakan plant will resume their duty in their respective shifts from August 14, 2013".
There were no immediate comments from the union.
"I am very pleased that the VKKS (Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sanghatana) union has unconditionally called off their strike at Chakan," Bajaj Auto managing director Rajiv Bajaj said in a statement.
"On behalf of the management, I assure all the 22 workmen who are suspended pending inquiry that their cases will be considered objectively and sympathetically in the collective interest of all stakeholders," Bajaj added.
The workers at Bajaj Auto's Chakan plant had gone on strike on 25 June after the management allegedly refused to allot shares of the company to them at a nominal price.
The management said the workers "stopped coming" to work, which affected production. Later, they added new demands like higher wages and reinstatement of sacked workers, according to the company.
Earlier in the day, Bajaj had extended a deadline for permanent transfer of 50 per cent of production from Chakan unit, which produces the Pulsars, its best selling models, to other plants at Aurangabad and Pantnagar till Friday.
The company had earlier threatened to move half of the production out of the Chakan plant to its other plants by 12 August unless the strike ended.
Although the deadline expired without any result, the company was hopeful of finding a solution to end the strike in the next two days.
On Monday, the company said of the 1,500 employees at the Chakan plant, 940 reported to work.
The Chakan plant, which makes two-wheelers, including its high-end sports bikes, has an installed capacity of over 3,000 units a day and an annual capacity of 1.2 million vehicles as of March.
