Hero wage talks on Tuesday, 29 Jan

Jan 25 meeting flops, workers on slowdown to press for Rs 15,000 wage hike

The management at the country’s largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp is set to hold fresh round of talks with the union representatives of the Gurgaon unit on Tuesday (Jan 29) to break the impasse over wage increases at the facility.

The latest round of talks held on Friday (Jan 25) had remained inconclusive as the two parties struggled to agree on the final terms of settlement.

In the meantime, the workers have resorted to slowing down production operation starting Wednesday last week to press ahead with their demand for monthly wage increase of over Rs 15,000 spread  over a three-year period. In a tripartite meeting held at the Gurgaon additional labour commissioner’s office last week, the company had offered Rs 7,500 in wage settlement.

Workers are demanding an increased compensation as productivity has gone higher since 2009. The management meanwhile chose to remain tight-lipped on the meeting but maintained they were hopeful of a resolution soon.

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.