Strike at Nestle's Pantnagar plant ends

The 22-day strike at food and dairy company Nestle India’s Pantnagar factory in Uttarakhand has been called off.

With the intervention of Udham Singh Nagar District Magistrate SS Rawat, the striking workers and the management reached an agreement last night under which the suspension of four employees was revoked.

“We are pleased to announce the settlement between the striking workers of Nestle and the management,” Assistant Labour Commissioner Vipin Kumar said.

“The strike has ended and workers have resumed work,” Nestle India confirmed in its filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange today. Shares of Nestle settled 1.72 per cent down at Rs 1,710 on the BSE.

While Nestle had been able to resume production partially last week, work at the plant continued to suffer, officials said. With the strike resolved, Nestle has begun full production.

Nestle set up the Pantnagar factory, which started production in 2006, to take the benefit of a slew of tax incentives available under the special industrial package, 2003.

The strike was triggered by the removal of probationers on April 27 on the basis of their performance. The workers had been on strike since May 2. To resolve the stalemate, a committee had been set up to look into the matter.