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This is the beauty of having labour unions. Companies can no longer pay peanuts to employees and hoard all profits.

^^^ superlike....if companies are earning good money, why can't they share with its workers..

Think from the manufacturer perspective,They have to sell Bikes in low prices(mostly 100-125cc bikes) & if they continue to hike wages in this way how will they run business in the long run??

depends on which side you are... i am a salaried person, so i will always speak from the point of view of workers, if you are a businessman - you might speak from capitalist point of view. prices of everything is sky rocketing, and if salaries are not increased in similar proportion and similar rate, middle class or lower class will suffer. heck, even popcorn costs 100 rupees now in good theatres. and there should be a salary hike every year, not once in 3-4 years.

So you are suggesting that for helping the affluent (compared to the millions who struggle for 3 meals a day in India, those who can afford a bike are affluent) buy a bike for 5k to 10k less, we enslave labourers and make them build our dream machines after paying them peanuts ?

This reminds me of a poem I'd read long back about a (construction) worker who talks about how he builds rich men's castles while he himself moves from one construction camp to another in search of jobs and dies a homeless, hungry old man in a slum.

Dude, chill...
Thats the rule of life.. survival of the fittest.. its not that we do not get trampled upon but this is the way it is. if you consider a person who buys a bike is affluent, Please feel free to donate a couple of thousand to CRY or anyother NGO instead of selling off the rickety old bike and buying a new one..
eitherways this takes this discussion to a completely off topic discussion, so lets not get into the politics of rich and poor. and i have no grudge against the rich or poor..

I believe its high time hero looked for alternative locations (easier said than done)

There has to be a balance between the wages paid and its contribution to the cost of making a product. If there is relentless and repetitive increase in wages and salaries, manufactures will tend to move to places where wages and salaries are lower, this is a fundamental fact of the world (the call centers in India are an outcome of this fact). No matter how much you want to complain and feel bad about it. The problem with increasing salaries and wages persistently is that one day you will be faced with a scenario whereby it is no longer commercially viable to manufacture products in that factory, whereas your competition may be producing products from a plant somewhere across the world at much cheaper rate due to lower salaries and wages over there. In the book "American Icon: Alan Mulally and the fight to save Ford Motor Company", it is graphically described as to how in the boom years in the 1950s and 1960s, an era of easy profit created a culture of entitlement in Detroit that afflicted management and labour alike, inflating salaries, wages and benefits until they became the envy of the world that eventually became the downfall of the American auto industry. It goes on to describe how the Unions used their power to push through contracts that were so uncompetitive that the American car makers were hit not just in terms of productivity but also in terms of quality and profitability. A graphic example was about Ford loosing $590 on every vehicle produced in the region whereas Toyota and Honda earning $1,200 per vehicle for made in America cars. Much of this was attributed to the uncompetitive contracts negotiated by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union with Ford and other American car manufactures.

Like everything else in the world, worker unions can be either be beneficial or can be the death of a company and even an entire industry.

Don't get me wrong, I am definitely not saying that workers should not be paid well. In fact, they need to be paid well to ensure not just social equality and but also good quality life. There definitely needs to be a balance and a win win solution. However, to have a view that companies are only earning extraordinary profits and simply exploiting their workers is certainly not fair and is even retrograde.

^^ nobody is forcing the management to pay unjustified high salaries and perks, but atleast a decent salary is definitely desired and a pay hike every year is something, which is required for a decent survival. a pay hike once in 3-4 years is not justified. if ford made a mistake of paying their workers too much, that does not mean, other companies should try to pay very less salaries in fear of getting into similar situations.moreover it is the job of management to foresee future and make policies and change the policies/products to meet current and future trends, that is the job of management, and that is why management is paid handsomely.for example if hero moto corp does not come up with new products to meet current and future market demand and trend, and keepon selling age old splendours, a point will come when hero moto corp will become flop, and company will go into loss, who is to blame workers or management...??anyway.. we are going OT.

I was waiting for someone to post this thing about being competitive. Well, India just happens to be at the bottom end of the pyramid as far as labor costs are concerned - or perhaps just above China but you get the idea. So what is going to happen is....

(kinda hard to explain so did this flow chart - see attachment)


EDIT: See http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...eincrease.png/ for the image. Couldn't attach properly for some reason and it was shrunk before attaching.

Wage negotiations between HMC and its trade unions have been inconclusive. It has now been referred to Haryana Deputy Labour Commissioner for further action.

The discussions have now been going on from August 2012.

The management is giving around Rs 6500 per month increase spread over three years, while the workers are asking for Rs 18000 per month spread over three years.

Nearly 1200 workers are protesting by wearing black arm bands. But they have ruled out going on strike or reducing productivity.

Source: Initial wage negotiations at Hero MotoCorp inconclusive - NDTVProfit.com

HMC workers to start 'slow production'?

According to CNBC TV 18, workers at Hero Moto Corp may start 'slow production' from Wednesday to pressurise the management to give into their wage demands.

Not only will the Gurgaon Plant workers, but the Dharuhera plant workers will also begin 'slow production'. This is set to effect HMC's production adversely. Even though this is not supposed to be a full blown protest.

HMC is already reeling from reduced sale and market share, this will only compound the woes of the company.


Source: Hero Moto workers to 'go slow' at Gurgaon from Wed: Sources - CNBC-TV18

Good way to pressurize management without stopping production.

oh no!! Why don't workers understand that running a business at number 1 position requires contributions from every side!!