Bosch workers on strike for wage hike

About 2,600 workers at the main production plant of German auto components major Bosch India Ltd here struck work Tuesday, seeking higher wages.

In a regulator filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the city-based Indian subsidiary claimed that the employees' union of its Bangalore plant had chosen to go on strike from Tuesday to press for their 'unreasonable demands'.

"Strike will be considered as illegal," the company said in the statement.

The management, however, is in discussion with the union to restore normalcy with the intervention of the state additional labour commissioner, as production has come to a halt.

Though the company has offered the trade union (Mico Employees Association) an increase of Rs.17,000 per month for each employee, the striking workers are demanding Rs.20,000 per month.

The Rs.13,200-crore company is a leading supplier of components, including fuel injection pumps and spark plugs to automobiles and commercial vehicles makers in the country.

The wage revision, which is given once in four years, has been due since January 2013, while management and union have been negotiating over the quantum of hike during the past many months.

Besides two manufacturing plants in the city, including one at Naganathapura on the outskirts, the company has the third unit at Nashik in Maharashtra and fourth at Jaipur in Rajasthan.

Though the union had served the strike notice a fortnight ago, the management has termed it illegal, as wage negotiations have been going on over the months in the presence of the labour commissioner.

"Since we have informed the management about going on strike through the notice early this month, none of our members has reported for duty from first shift earlier in the day," a union representative told IANS late Tuesday.

An employee in the city plant is paid an average salary of Rs.65,000 a month and the company has offered a monthly hike of Rs.17,000 effective since 2013.

Declining the offer, the union representative said their demand for Rs.20,000 was reasonable in view of the rising cost of living and high inflation, which neutralise the hike to a great extent, as the next wage revision will be in January 2017.

The wage hike negotiations have been going on for months in the company's other three production plants.