Hero showcause notices to six union members

Wage talks still turn out to be inconclusive

Hero MotoCorp has issued show causes notices against six office bearers of Hero MotoCorp Workers Union (HMCWU, Gurgaon unit) for allegedly inciting workers to slow down production processes last month.

A person in know of the development informed that the company has asked the office bearers of the employees union to explain their actions. Workers at the Gurgaon unit had observed slow down of output for a few days starting January 23, resulting in an estimated production loss of over 1,000 scooters.

Meanwhile, a tripartite negotiation between the union representatives and the management at Hero MotoCorp held at the Gurgaon additional labour commissioner’s office today remained inconclusive. But the union has ruled out any obstrusive action and has resolved to thrash out the wage settlement terms only through negotiations.

When contacted a Hero MotoCorp spokesperson informed, "There is no police charge-sheet filed by the company. As a company we have taken care of our employees very well and continue to remain benchmark of welfare and benefits practices. Our Union has committed to follow a path of discipline and good conduct. As we have stated earlier, we have been holding talks with the union representatives in the presence of the labour department to find a sustainable, steady and sensible wage settlement. We will continue to engage with the workers towards achieving this objective of reaching an amicable solution, without allowing ourselves to be coerced into irrational decisions. The need for maintaining discipline for ensuring productivity and quality targets cannot be overemphasized.”

The workers had resorted to slowdown of one production line earlier last month to press ahead with their demand for higher wages.

The workers at the Gurgaon units are demanding an increased compensation of over Rs 15,000 as productivity has gone higher since 2009. The management meanwhile had previously offered less than half the amount at Rs 7500 in wage hike for permanent workers at the facility. It has only recently offered an additional incentive of Rs 1000-1500.

Over 11,000 permanent and contract workers across both the Gurgaon and Dharuhera units are sporting black armbands to protest against the mangement’s refusal to give higher wages to permanent workers at Gurgaon.

The workers at Hero MotoCorp have been asking for a similar increment as at Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India’s (HMSI) Manesar unit, where a 50 per cent wage hike of Rs 14,770 in monthly salary was announced recently.

Hero MotoCorp employs around 1200 permanent workers and 4000 contract workers at its Gurgaon facility. The average salary of a permanent worker at Gurgaon currently is around Rs 32,000 which goes up to as much as Rs 38,000 for more experienced employees.