More workers rejoin Tata Motors' Sanand plant even as strike continues

About 40 workers have returned to work

As the workers’ strike at the Sanand plant of Tata Motors enters its 14th day, workers in small groups are trickling in to work. On Saturday, at least 40 striking workers had reported to work, and the number is likely to climb in the coming days.

On February 22, 422 permanent workers at the plant had gone on a flash strike protesting against the suspension of 28 workers. Several rounds of talks have failed since then, and eventually on March 2 the Gujarat labour department prohibited the strike.

Read more from our special coverage on "TATA MOTORS, SANAND"

• Worker unrest at Tata Motors Sanand unit nearing a flashpoint
• Tata Motors Sanand plant hit by strike

Pressure is mounting on the workers as they continue to strike. Small groups have started to break away and about 25 workers resumed work initially. On Saturday, this number touched 40, according to sources.

Tata Motors had declared on Friday it would not allow striking workers to enter the premises. It also said it would ferry only those workers in company buses who were willing to work.

In response, workers did not report to work on Saturday apart from the 40.

Tata Motors published a notice in Gujarati newspapers on Saturday asking workers to report back to work by March 5 or else the company would take action against them.

A company spokesperson said, “Given the government of Gujarat’s order dated March 2 prohibiting the strike, we expect workmen to resume work. We have reached out to the workmen and we hope good counsel will prevail.”

Sources indicated that with 40 workers rejoining, more were expected to resume work in the coming days as they faced a no-work-no-pay situation in an illegal strike.