Bajaj Auto goes the Suzuki way

New Delhi, 1 July 2013: The story at the Chakan plant of Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) is not much different from the story at Maruti’s Manesar plant. The struggle too hence is no different.
Over 1500 workers are on stoppage of activity at the Chakan plant from 25 June 2013 and Bajaj is refusing to negotiate with the recognised union and is simultaneously seeking derecognition of the union as well as deregistering it.

At the Chakan plant, there are 900 permanent workers, 400 contract workers, 500 trainees and 150 are under the Maharashtra Government’s Earn and Learn Scheme. The militant Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sangathan (VKKS), affiliated to the NTUI, represents the workers at the Chakan plant as well as the parent Akurdi plant.

The company introduced the Japanese TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) method of business process in April 2010 at the Chakan plant which is aimed at elimination of ‘waste’. At the core of TPM is the introduction of Kaizen (Japanese method of Continuous Improvement) and 5S (Japanese method of effective and efficient workplace organisation). All activities that constitute idle time within shifts, over and above the break time are considered ‘waste’ under this system. A Chryslar manual on continuous improvement lists Walking, Searching for parts or tools, Reading schedules, Moving parts and materials, Repositioning parts during assembly, Repairing, Handling the same part more than once, Adjusting, Reaching excessively – all as non-value activities and hence “waste”. Removal of such activities basically implies multiplication of work intensity manifold. Soon after, on 21 May 2010, BAL signed a wage agreement with the Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sanghtana (VKKS) for BAL Chakan valid till 2019 which included productivity norms. The Chakan plant operates two 9 hour shifts – each of 480 minutes of production. All rest breaks taken together add to one hour. On every Rs. 75,000 Pulsar motorcycle, the Company makes a net profit of Rs. 16,700 (22.27%) and the workers are paid an aggregate of Rs. 1,450 (1.93%) – each worker makes less than a Rupee for every Pulsar made.

The Chakan crisis is closely linked to the May 2012 agitation of workers at the Pantnagar plant. The Pantnagar workers approached VKKS, the union representing Bajaj workers in its Akurdi and Chakan plants, to support them. The union offered them membership and majority of the workers at Pantnagar joined the VKKS. The management refused to negotiate with the VKKS and stated that a union registered outside the state cannot represent the workers and attempted to register a management sponsored yellow union. The VKKS approached the Bombay High Court which issued an order in favour of VKSS and directed the Uttarakhand Labour Department to begin conciliation with the VKSS.

From June 2012, the management retaliated at the Chakan plant by starting to closely monitor workers on the shopfloor. Union leaders and organisers who had traveled to Pantnagar were systematically victimised. Workers were timed for trips to the toilet and charge sheeted individually for alleged defects and faults in production – 35 workmen have been charged under such charges. 80 workmen have been suspended for between 1-6 days. 13 workmen remain suspended. 1 workman has been dismissed without enquiry. The company had also introduced forced unpaid overtime of upto 1-2 hours every day.

In late 2012, BAL challenged the representative character of VKKS under Maharashtra Recognition of Trade Unions (MRTU) and Prevention of Unfair Labour Practices (PULP Act) and filed an application with the labour commissioner demanding derecognition of VKKS and the registration of the union under provisions of the TU Act. VKKS secured a stay from the Bombay High Court against the Company’s move to derecognise the workers’ body on 24 June evening. But meanwhile, through a separate court order, Bajaj has barred large crowds from gathering within 1,000 meters of the factory and is pushing local labour department officials for declaring the workers’ action as ‘illegal’ strike.

Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sangathana has meanwhile sought to terminate the settlement of 2010 in accordance with its provision that it can be terminated after three years by either party giving notice for the same. With the union demanding revision of service conditions, the management has refused to negotiate.

The New Trade Union Initiative stands in solidarity with the struggling members of the Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sangathan and supports their demands that:

The Bajaj Auto Ltd management:
• Negotiates in good faith with the MRTU recognised union, the VKKS and withdraws its appeal for derecognition of the union.
• Terminates the wage agreement of 2010 and starts negotiations on wage revision and revision of working conditions with VKKS
• Immediately regularise contract workers as well as reinstate the suspended workers since 2012 and transfer back the victimised Chakan plant workers who were transferred to other plants since 2012.

Government of Maharashtra:
• Urgently intervene using its powers under the ID Act and the MRTU to ensure a resolution to this industrial dispute.

N Vasudevan
Secretary