Hyundai workers mulling strike

Workers at Hyundai Motor India are contemplating a strike to protest against increased work load in the shop floor. The workers, led by the CITU-affiliated Hyundai Motor India Employees Union (HMIEU), will also reiterate their demand for management recognition and reinstatement of workers dismissed during the course of earlier agitations, according to the union sources.

Representatives of the HMIEU said that the car manufacturer has hiked the work load without consulting with the union. In the assembly shop, for instance, the work done by 30 workers is expected to be done by 25. Workers at the factory in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, have boycotted the canteen facilities since Monday. A meeting of the executive committee is planned to decide on further protests, they said.

Company Denial

When contacted by

Business Line , a Hyundai spokesperson denied that there was ‘any trouble' among the workers. The management has recognised a non-political union, the United Union of Hyundai Employees, which represents 75 per cent of the workforce. As for reinstatement of dismissed workers, the company has followed all formal commitments it had made to the Government's Labour Department, the spokesperson said.

According to HMIEU sources, the management has promoted and recognised a union but the majority of the 1,500 permanent workers are with the CITU-led union. The executive committee of the HMIEU is set to meet on Sunday to decide on further course of action. A strike notice had been issued in August and is valid.

Last year, a strike by the HMIEU led to a production loss of about 3,800 cars over a two-day period at India's second largest car manufacturing facility with a capacity to manufacture over 6 lakh cars a year.

Following this agitation, the company, union and the Government Labour Department had agreed to constitute a committee to review the dismissal of 35 workers in 2008. According to the union, only 14 had been reinstated.