Bajaj Auto clears Chakan logjam

Workers end strike unconditionally, agree to return to work from today

Bajaj Auto’s Chakan plant workers, on strike for about 50 days, will return to work on Wednesday, despite the company remaining unyielding on any of their demands. This was after a recent ultimatum from Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj that said the company would be impelled to permanently shift half of its Chakan production to the Aurangabad and Pantnagar units if the workers did not call off their strike within a week.

Bajaj had made it clear that the workers choosing to stay away from work might have to look for other jobs, sit at home or go for voluntary retirement. The shifting of production, he had said, entailed hiring new workers at the other two plants.

Confirming the development, Rajiv Bajaj on Tuesday said: “Yes, the union (representing the workers at the plant in Chakan, near Pune) has agreed to withdraw the strike unconditionally. The workers will come back to work.”

The union had been demanding that the plant’s 1,500 employees be given shares in the company, their wage agreement (valid till 2019) be cancelled and a new one be put in place, and the 22 workers who had been suspended be reinstated. The management had refused to accept any of these.

Dilip Pawar, president of Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sanghatana, which was leading the strike, also confirmed that the strike had been called off. “We have called off the strike. We just wanted to show the management our unity and strength. We are still firm on our demands. But, considering the festive season is around the corner, we did not want to prolong the strike,” he said.

Though he denied the strike had been called off because of the MD’s ultimatum, he confirmed that all workers would resume work from the morning of Wednesday, August 14.

The management expects the plant to start running at its full capacity within a week. “It will take five-six days... The discussion between management and the union will continue,” said Kailas Zanjari, vice-president (motorcycle division), Bajaj Auto.

Rajiv Bajaj added wage negotiations for 2013-14 to determine the raise for the financial year would take place only after the production had normalised. The wage agreement has been signed for up to 2019, but unions and the management sit across the table every year to determine the increase or decrease, based on the sales outlook for the industry.

He also said the company would continue to manufacture about 1,000 bikes at the Aurangabad unit — as was being done during the strike — so that production does not come to a standstill. He had earlier warned that while the production cut had not impacted the company, it could do so in the festive-season months of October and November.



Many of the 1,500 employees — 600-odd among them contract and temporary workers — who had stopped work at the Chakan plant since June 25 might not get their wages for the 50-day period.

Over the period of the strike, there had been several rounds of discussions between the union and the Bajaj management. On July 12, despite the intervention of state labour commissioner, Madhukar Gaikwad, the conciliatory meeting between the two sides had ended without any resolution. Bajaj Auto, which had taken a tough stance since the beginning, had last month filed a petition in a labour court to declare the strike illegal. Rajiv Bajaj had also said the company was not going to give even a single share to any employee for free even if the strike went on for 500 days.

The company’s Chakan plant, which has an annual capacity to produce 1.2 million units, manufactures motorcycle brands like the Pulsar, Avenger, Ninja and KTM.