Production hit at Hero, company alleges workers tampered with production equipment

Production on assembly line three was lower by around 45% in the first shift

Production was affected at the country’s largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp’s Gurgaon facility with workers going slow in production operations to press ahead with their demand for better wages.

Production on assembly line three at the unit was lower by around 45% in the first shift today as compared to the 1300 two-wheelers rolled out on an average in the morning shift daily, sources said.

A union bearer of Hero MotoCorp Workers’ Union (HMCWU) said, “We did not let the vendors enter the shop-floor today during the morning shift. We did not co-operate with the engineers but did only the work assigned to us. Production was lower by around 600 units in the first shift. But whatever two-wheelers were produced were of highest quality.”

Hero MotoCorp, while admitting that production was affected marginally said that the workers had tampered with production equipment at the facility. "Even as we are engaged in talks with the union of our Gurgaon plant to reach at an amicable solution, they have resorted to tampering with the settings of production equipment, marginally compromising on our output for the day. While we are indeed confident of making up this marginal shortfall, this kind of immature and irresponsible activity by the union does not reflect well on the conducive atmosphere in which we have been striving to reach at a reasonable, sustainable and sensible settlement in a patient manner”, said a spokesperson at the company.

Hero MotoCorp produces 6,000-7,000 two-wheelers per day on a two-shift basis at the Gurgaon unit. The company has three assembly lines at the facility. Hero MotoCorp scooters Pleasure and Maestro are assembled on line three.

The latest move by the workers comes after the management’s reluctance to increase wages by around Rs 15,000 over a three-year period at the Gurgaon unit. In the latest round of negotiations held at the Gurgaon additional labour commissioner’s office on Monday, the company had offered Rs 7500 in wage settlement.

Sources in know of the talks said among other factors, the company was concerned that if a significant wage increase is given to workers at Gurgaon, it would create dissent among workers at Hero’s Dharuhera facility. The company had given a wage increase of Rs 6,500 over a three-year period to the workers at Dharuhera in late 2011.

However, union members at the Gurgaon unit said that the workers at Dharuhera have extended unconditional support to their demands. “They understand that the living conditions in Gurgaon are much more expensive than that at Dharuhera. They are supporting us unconditionally”, informed a member of HMCWU.

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% wage hike of Rs 14,770 in monthly salary was announced recently.

Hero MotoCorp employs around 1200 permanent workers and 4,000 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.

"Our welfare measures and benefits have been the benchmark in the industry, so much so that some of our workers are paid better than the graduates from some of the reputed engineering institutes in the country. We will, therefore, continue to engage with our workers and the labour department in reaching a prudent and well-deliberated decision which will be in the best interest of all our workers as well as for the larger good of the industrial environment in the region”, added the spokesperson at Hero MotoCorp.

The next meeting between the workers and the management in scheduled on January 25