Gearing up for a fresh round of workers’ agitation at its Chakan plant in Pune, Bajaj Auto has shifted about 50 per cent of the production to Aurangabad.
The country’s second-largest motorcycle manufacturer expects production at the plant not to be hit.
“We have moved about 50 per cent of the production to our Waluj (Aurangabad) facility. As a de-risking exercise, we had shifted 30 per cent of the work earlier and after getting the notice we increased it to 50 per cent,” Kailash Zanzari, Vice-President (Motorcycle Manufacturing) at Bajaj Auto, told
The company has shifted production of Pulsar variants – Pulsar 150 and 180 – to Waluj.
Last week, Bajaj Auto workers’ union – Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sanghatna (VKKS) – issued a notice to the management stating that it will go on an indefinite strike and stop the work at the Chakan Plant from April 28, if their demands are not met.
The union’s demands included allotment of 500 shares to each permanent worker at a discounted price of ₹10 apiece and allocation of some portion of corporate social responsibility fund for the development of tribals, malnutrition and education.
On Friday, shares in Bajaj Auto closed down 0.41 per cent at ₹1,996.55 apiece.
Last June, the union had made a similar demand for shares, leading to a 50-day strike. Then, Bajaj Auto Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj had said he would be forced to move the board to shift production to other plants.
“All the personnel at the Chakan facility are not unionised and we expect at least 50 per cent of the total employees to report for work,” Zanzari added.