The Vadodara-based railway vehicle manufacturer Bombardier Transportation India on Thursday appealed to a section of its employees to resume work by July 17, failing which it would be constrained to take any disciplinary action, including terminating their services, through applicable legal process, and hire replacements for smooth conduct of its business activities.
In a statement, the company termed it as a “last resort” and said the Civil Court of Vadodara has, on July 8, rejected all applications and claims of employees, who are striking since June 3.
Bombardier, which had established its manufacturing site at Savli, near Vadodara, in 2008, had, in an effort to save jobs at the site, deputed about 34 employees to its project site in New Delhi. Some employees went on strike seeking “unreasonable work demands” for their deputation to New Delhi and “threatened” others not to work at Savli, the statement said.
An injunction order by the State Labour Department had recently prohibited the strike and kept the strikers 300 metres off the plant. Bombardier had also suspended 50 employees on disciplinary grounds, pending an inquiry.
“Bombardier has not terminated a single company employee and allegations of termination of 35 employees are fabricated. Around 20 employees have resigned from the strike and few others have not been able to resign citing personal safety and security,” the statement added.
Currently, nearly 500 employees are working at the Savli site where the company is executing bogie orders for Adelaide and Victoria in Australia and delivery of Metro cars for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).