The conciliation talks between the Bosch management and the MICO Employees’ Association (MEA) with the Additional Labour Commissioner of Karnataka regarding the workers’ strike were inconclusive, according to Mr Raghavendra, executive committee member of the MEA.
“This is a quasi-judicial matter and we just had the preliminary talks. The stands of both parties were made clear and the next step in the conciliation process will start next week,” Mr Gurudas Bhat, Additional Labour Commissioner of Karnataka told Business Line.
The strike, that began as a ‘tool down strike’ on September 29, 2011 intensified into a relay hunger strike in the last two days and the MEA proposes to further intensify it.
“The management is firm on their decision to outsource and the MEA is firm on its stand that outsourcing is against the agreement signed in October last year,” Mr Raghavendra told Business Line.
“The MEA will continue the agitation and will definitely intensify it, and we will decide tomorrow what exactly we will do,” he added.
The workers have been fighting the company’s proposal to outsource manufacturing carried out in 19 departments of the Adugodi plant, which they claim is against the contract the two parties signed in October 2010 stating that no processes will be outsourced till December 2012. The employees are also miffed at the company’s move to ‘illegally’ shut down certain operations of the plant and ‘illegally’ employ administrative staff and trainees to manufacture certain components.
The Bosch management, since the strike began, refused to comment on the issue to the media, and their official statement to the media after the conciliation talks is awaited.