The Pune Additional Labour Commissioner K.K. Hendre has issued show-cause notices to Bajaj Auto and four contractors stating misuse of the Contract Labour Act, and asking why their respective registration and licences should not be cancelled.

The notice follows a complaint by the Bajaj Auto Union alleging that contractual labour employed for non-core jobs was being used for vehicle assembly at its Chakan plant.

The development is the latest in the two-week stand-off between Bajaj Auto and the Union since workers at the two-wheeler major’s Chakan plant went on strike on June 25.

According to Maruti Jagdale, advisor to the Shramik Ekta Mahasangh (SEM), an umbrella organisation of over 80 labour Unions that has offered support to the Bajaj Union, the show-cause notice follows an inspection at the Chakan factory premises. This had thrown up several irregularities and violations of the Contract Labour Act, he claimed. Hendre did not respond to calls.

In a related development, the Vishwakalyan Kamgar Sanghatana (VKS), the Union at Bajaj Auto, Chakan, has written to the factory inspector’s office at Pune, alleging that more than 500 contractual workers and trainees, including some newly-inducted, were being forcibly held within the company’s premises and employed in motorcycle assembly.

The main reason for the 14-day-old stir is a demand by the Bajaj Union that each of 900-odd members be allotted 500 shares each at a price of Re 1 per share. The VKS is also alleging that the company is dragging its feet on a wage revision due in April 2013.

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