Strike called off at Bosch's Bangalore plant

The "tool down" strike by 2,500-odd employees at the Adugodi plant of Bosch in Bangalore has been called off. The strike, started after the first shift on Thursday, ended late evening on Saturday after the management agreed on certain demands of the Mico Employees' Association (MEA), who were protesting the suspension of one of their members.

"The management has agreed to revoke the suspension of workman Chandrashekar, and revise THE incentive payment factor progressively. They have also agreed to allow the general secretary for all discussions," said Prasanna Kumar, president of MEA. The agreement was reached after the intervention of the additional labour commissioner late Saturday evening. Workers resumed production at the plant from the night shift on Saturday, immediately after the strike was called off, sources said.

A Bosch spokesperson confirmed the development: "The management and the union meeting concluded with a quick resolution on the issues, supported by intervention of additional labour commissioner. The suspension of the employee has been withdrawn. However, inquiry will still continue."

The company management had termed the strike 'illegal', because the union had failed to serve a seven-day legal notice to the management. It also claimed that the workers had been on a "go-slow" mode for the last three months, which had affected productivity by 40 per cent.