Lockout continues at Toyota as workers refuse to sign undertaking

Union to meet labour department officials later this afternoon

The stand-off between Toyota India and its agitating employees continued as they refused to sign an undertaking for joining duty after the eight-day lockout was lifted early Monday.

When the workers returned to work for the 6 am shift this morning, the management insisted that each individual employee sign an undertaking, but the employees refused to do so.

“We have decided at our general body meeting that we will not sign any individual undertaking. But we have told the management that the Union would give a collective undertaking. The management has not allowed our workers to get back to work,” said R Satish, general secretary, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Employees Union (TKMEU).

The management has been insisting that the workers should give an undertaking to abide by rules governing their work ethic and conduct.

Though about 2,000 employees work in an eight-hour shift, about 500 of them were present at the factory gate since dawn, waiting for management to withdraw the undertaking so they could join duty and resume work.

As the standoff continued, the union has decided to rope in the state government to mediate with management to resolve the deadlock.

“We will be meeting the labour department officials later this afternoon for his intervention, as the state government is legally empowered to direct the company to lift lockout unconditionally, as it (lockout) was declared illegally on March 16 without the 14-day notice period,” Satish told Business Standard.

Besides company’s security guards, state police personnel have been stationed around the twin plants in Bidadi industrial township to maintain law and order.

Company officials were not available for comments on the standoff.

Management and union had agreed to adjudicate the contentious wage hike demand till normalcy was restored.

Of the 4,900 employees, about 400 of them work on contract basis and the rest are members of the TKMEU.

This is the second time lockout was declared after 2006 over dismissal and suspension of some employees then.