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Hero MotoCorp faced labour unrest at its Gurgaon plant, over shifting of contractual labour jobs from the Gurgaon Plant to the Neemrana plant.
"Around 400 policemen arrived to threaten and abuse us, asking us to leave the company premises. We want our jobs to be saved and demanded that those who have been working for more than 10 years be made permanent employees at the plant," said Sheel, one of the leaders of the contractual workers.
Although there were claims that the workers were evicted forcibly by the cops on Monday night, senior police officials denied these allegations. "We had around 70 policemen and did not employ any force to evict the workers. They left the premises peacefully after they were convinced by the deputy labour commissioner that the company's action was not illegal," said Vijay Kumar, an inspector at Sadar police station, who attended the meeting between the workers and management late Monday night.
Workers claim, not only does the firm propose an en-masse transfer of some 300 contractual employees, but also that they would have to accept a significant pay cut.
Amit Kumar Bamal, a worker at this facility, said, "Instead of offering us a higher salary for so many years of service, they are offering us just Rs 6,500 at Neemrana. Our current salary is Rs 11,000. If we agree to be absorbed by their manufacturing plant in Gurgaon, they should hire us as permanent employees, not as contractuals."
By Tuesday noon, senior labour department officials got involved. Workers reportedly met deputy labour commissioner Anuradha Lamba with their complaint and later assembled outside the factory premises to raise slogans against the company management.
"We are closely monitoring the situation. We have intervened as well, and have met both the union and the management. We're committed to maintaining industrial peace in this region," said Anand Mohan Sharan, Haryana's labour commissioner.
Additional labour commissioner Naresh Narwal was also part of the negotiations that continued through the day. He said the labour department has issued suggestions to both the parties to find some common ground and avoid further escalation. "We suggested to the management that those workers who don't want to go to Neemrana should be absorbed at the main plant in Gurgaon. Only those who want to leave should be relocated," said Narwal. Those who neither want to get absorbed at the main plant, nor want to shift to Neemrana, have an option of quitting the firm after taking a severance package.
Many workers seemed unconvinced by these offers. Some said that they will continue working at either Gurgaon or Neemrana only after they are made permanent employees.
In a written statement, a Hero MotoCorp spokesperson said, "We are currently in discussion with the workers at our Gurgaon parts centre for a smooth transition from the existing facility to the new state-of-the-art global parts centre at Neemrana. We are hopeful of reaching an amicable solution at the earliest."
Source: Tension at Hero plant over Neemrana shift | ET Auto
"Around 400 policemen arrived to threaten and abuse us, asking us to leave the company premises. We want our jobs to be saved and demanded that those who have been working for more than 10 years be made permanent employees at the plant," said Sheel, one of the leaders of the contractual workers.
Although there were claims that the workers were evicted forcibly by the cops on Monday night, senior police officials denied these allegations. "We had around 70 policemen and did not employ any force to evict the workers. They left the premises peacefully after they were convinced by the deputy labour commissioner that the company's action was not illegal," said Vijay Kumar, an inspector at Sadar police station, who attended the meeting between the workers and management late Monday night.
Workers claim, not only does the firm propose an en-masse transfer of some 300 contractual employees, but also that they would have to accept a significant pay cut.
Amit Kumar Bamal, a worker at this facility, said, "Instead of offering us a higher salary for so many years of service, they are offering us just Rs 6,500 at Neemrana. Our current salary is Rs 11,000. If we agree to be absorbed by their manufacturing plant in Gurgaon, they should hire us as permanent employees, not as contractuals."
By Tuesday noon, senior labour department officials got involved. Workers reportedly met deputy labour commissioner Anuradha Lamba with their complaint and later assembled outside the factory premises to raise slogans against the company management.
"We are closely monitoring the situation. We have intervened as well, and have met both the union and the management. We're committed to maintaining industrial peace in this region," said Anand Mohan Sharan, Haryana's labour commissioner.
Additional labour commissioner Naresh Narwal was also part of the negotiations that continued through the day. He said the labour department has issued suggestions to both the parties to find some common ground and avoid further escalation. "We suggested to the management that those workers who don't want to go to Neemrana should be absorbed at the main plant in Gurgaon. Only those who want to leave should be relocated," said Narwal. Those who neither want to get absorbed at the main plant, nor want to shift to Neemrana, have an option of quitting the firm after taking a severance package.
Many workers seemed unconvinced by these offers. Some said that they will continue working at either Gurgaon or Neemrana only after they are made permanent employees.
In a written statement, a Hero MotoCorp spokesperson said, "We are currently in discussion with the workers at our Gurgaon parts centre for a smooth transition from the existing facility to the new state-of-the-art global parts centre at Neemrana. We are hopeful of reaching an amicable solution at the earliest."
Source: Tension at Hero plant over Neemrana shift | ET Auto
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