M&M Hingna unit ink new wage pact

Workers of Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Hingna MIDC unit have signed a new wage agreement with the company's management under which they will get an average wage hike of Rs 3,600 per month.

This is the ninth wage agreement between the workers and the management. The new wage scale will apply to the 521 permanent workers at the Hingna unit.

The package, which came into effect from May 1, awards salary in the bracket of Rs 14,000 to Rs 20,000 to the workers, said Sunil Jumade, president, Bhartiya Kamgar Sena (BKS), Hingna unit.

Other benefits include encashment of earned leave (EL) a unique "holiday resort scheme". The last wage agreement was signed on August 16, 2001 and was operational till November 2004. It took 16 months for the management to prepare a draft of the new wage agreement, said Jumade.

The company's Nagpur unit hires around 1,500 employees. Of these, 521 are permanent, 400 are contract workers, 300 working supervisor trainees (WSTs), and 54 temporary workers. The balance are in officer grade.

Jumade said the Nagpur plant was started in 1969. Till 1996, the plant was manufacturing spare parts for tractors and jeeps. On September 15, 1997, it started manufacturing tractors. BKS became the registered union in 1995 and has since signed three wage agreements.

The first was inked in 1998, second in 2001 and the third in 2006. M&M has four tractor manufacturing plants in the country at Rudrapur in Uttaranchal, Jaipur, Kandivli and Hingna. The Hingna plant is a profitable venture and turned in net profit of Rs 377 crore in 2005-06.