Hyundai India Plagued by Labour Problem
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Transcript of Hyundai India Plagued by Labour Problem
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Hyundai India Plagued By Labour Problem2010
The sit-in agitation by a section of Hyundai workers in Chennai has entered
the second day. Even as the concilation meeting is happening before the
labour commissioner this morning, with both the union and the management
at loggerheads, things are going from bad to worse, with the union obstinate
in its demand to reinstate 67 of their dismissed employees and the
management showing reticence to oblige, suffering huge production loss in
the process.
The management was spot on in coming out with a press statement stating
the strike as illegal. The press note, released by the Hyundai India
management yesterday says: "Hyundai Motor India is again facing labour
problems at its Sriperumbedur plant, outside Chennai. The unrecognised
union under the aegis of HMIEU called for the strike as it is agitating for the
re-instatement of dismissed employees. In fact, Hyundai India had signed a
MoU with HMIEU in the presence of the Labour Minister of Tamil Nadu and
other State government officials whereby it had agreed to reinstate 20 of the
87 dismissed employees after a case by case review. The company had
fulfilled its commitment and re-instated 20 of these employees on
humanitarian grounds".
The press note goes on to add: "HMIEU is now demanding the reinstatement
of the remaining 67 employees, dismissed for gross misconduct leading to
damage of company property and violence against fellow workers. Currently,
conciliation pertaining to labour issues are pending before the Deputy
Commissioner of Labour 11, Chennai and the next date for conciliation
meeting is on June 8, before the Commissioner of Labour. HMIEU has
initiated this sit in strike even before the conciliation proceedings are over.
Hence, the current strike is in violation of the orders of the District Munsif
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cum Judicial Magistrate, Sriperumbedur which prohibits any unlawful activity
within the factory and within 100 metres radius of the factory premises".
According to the release, as a result of the sit-in strike by around 150
workers the management of Hyundai India is forced to suspend itsproduction from yesterday, resulting in a loss of 2200 cars with a value of
around Rs 65-crore. Furthermore, the Hyundai India management has
sought State government intervention and has also approached the
Commissioner of Labours office for an early settlement to the
dispute.Hyundai India has employed around 10,000 people in its Chennai
factory with a production capacity of 600,000 units a year.
Even as the management is sticking to its stated position, the union
members have a different version to say. According to an IANS report, thestrike by workers at the Hyundai India plant in Chennai to demand the
reinstatement of 67 dismissed colleagues and recognition of their union
continued continued for the second day today.
The report quotes A Edison Periera, President of Hyundai Motor India
Employees Union as having said: "Our members are continuing their sit-in
strike since Sunday midnight. Many of them have not taken food since
Sunday night. One worker fainted Monday and was taken to the hospital. The
management has declared leave for the first shift today (Tuesday)".
The agency report further quotes K Thangapandian, Vice President of HMIEU
as saying: "The management started flexing its muscle by suspending four
more workers and that was one of the reasons for us going on strike".
It may be recalled that HW Park, Managing Director of HMIL and Chief
Executive had last month ruled out reinstating the dismissed workers, by
citing the reason that the government was yet to confer the status of 'public
utility' on the company as agreed at the time of setting up the plant a decade
ago.
According to Thangapandian: "The union was about to go on strike in
January when the South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, a former Hyundai
Motor employee, was on a state visit, but deferred it as the management
then promised to consider their demands. As per the agreement between the
union and the management reached on Jan 20, 2010 reinstatement of 67
dismissed workers has to be considered on a case-by-case basis. The
management agreed to take back 35 dismissed workers. It also agreed that
talks on recognition to the union will be held and both the parties - the union
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and the management - will work cordially to resolve the issues. But the
management has backtracked on its commitments".
According to the company officials, "The strike has come at a wrong time as
its two plants were shut down last month for maintenance May 24-June 3and production resumed only on June 4. The factory has around 1,650
permanent workers, 2000 casual labourers, 1500 apprentices, 1000 Hyundai
trade apprentices and 1200 technical trainees.
The current strike at the Irrungattukottai plant is in violation of the orders of
the district munsif-cum-judicial magistrate, Sriperumbedur, which prohibits
any unlawful activity within the factory and within 100 metres radius of the
factory premises".
Thangapandian, in turn had stoutly defended the union's decision to go in fora strike. "This is a legal strike. We had given strike notice on May 5 itself", he
added.
Recurrence
Last year, the workers had gone on a six-day strike protesting the wage
agreement the management had negotiated with a workers committee. The
State Labour Minister TM Anbarasan brokered peace and HMIL and HMIEU
signed an agreement. As per the agreement, the company took back 20 of
the 87 dismissed employees. It did not agree with the union's demand to
absorb the other 67. Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor India Ltd has resorted to
direct negotiations with the dismissed workers and offered them
compensation. Last month, the company settled the claims of two dismissed
workers and had said the process is on in settling the accounts of 20 more.
The company alleges that the HMIEU is preventing the workers from signing
the direct settlement and the union is denying the allegation and asserting
that taking back the rest of the fired workers only could resolve the issue.