Mahindra workers call off 'tool down' strike

A 15-day-long strike, waged by workers in Nashik plant of the automotive major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), was finally called off as both the company management and the workers union reached a compromise on Monday (May 18 2009).

Workers of Nashik plant of M&M had gone on an indefinite ‘tool down strike’ from May 4, 2009, in protest against the suspension of Mahindra union president Madhav Dhatrak by the company management and company’s delay to sign the wage agreement for the last 22 months.

“The company management and M&M Workers’ Union (Internal), at a joint meeting on Monday night, reached the settlement. Both have decided to settle the issue of the Union president’s suspension and wage agreement within the next 10-12 days (by May 30, 2009),” the Union office-bearer told Business Standard.

A 15-day tool down strike by the workers had badly affected the production losses to M&M and its 350 vendors across the country. M&M itself has reportedly lost the production of 6,000 units in the past 13 working days, which is estimated at around Rs. 325 crore.

On the contrary, the total production losses to 350 vendors of M&M are estimated at Rs. 225 crore during the last 10 days.

M&M’s facility is located in Satpur area of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation’s (MIDC) in Nashik. The Nashik facility manufactures 486 utility vehicles daily- 240 utility vehicles, ‘Scorpio’ & ‘Xylo’ on the same assembly line, 180 Bolero utility vehicles and 66 sedan car ‘Logan’. The Nashik plant has 4450 employees, including 2750 permanent employees, 1200 temporary employees and 500 apprentices.