Hero management, workers to continue talks on Thursday

Talk to settle a three-year wage agreement

Two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp's management and workers of the Gurgaon plant will continue their talks tomorrow to settle a three-year wage agreement as an agreement remained elusive after two rounds of negotiations in the last one week.

 

The tripartite meeting between the management, Hero MotoCorp Workers Union (HMCWU) and senior officials from Haryana Labour Department had remained inconclusive yesterday.

 

"Yesterday's long meeting did not yield any result. Both sides were sticking to their stand and efforts to find a middle path remained unfruitful," a source close to the development said.

 

The next tripartite meeting has been scheduled tomorrow to sort out the differences, sources said.

 

After the initial wage negotiations, which started during late-August 2012 after submission of the demands, remained inconclusive and fell apart on January 21, the matter was referred to the DLC of the region for further deliberations. The first second level of negotiations started on January 25, but in vain.

 

When contacted, a company spokesperson declined to comment on the development.

 

Workers are demanding a monthly wage hike of up to Rs 18,000 over a three-year period. However, according to sources, the company has offered a hike of around Rs 7,500.

 

Last week, workers at the Gurgaon plant observed slow down of output for a few days, resulting in an estimated total production loss of over 1,000 scooters.

 

The workers had resorted to slowdown of one production line, which produces scooters. The company has three lines at the plant and rolls out around 7,000 two-wheelers every day.

 

HMCWU represents nearly 1,200 permanent workers at the Gurgaon plant.

 

Shares of Hero MotoCorp were trading 0.73% down at Rs 1,797 apiece on BSE during late afternoon.