Nokia India has signed a new three-year wage settlement agreement with the employees of its manufacturing facility at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai.
The agreement was signed between Nokia India Employees Progressive Union (NIEPU), which spearheaded the recent strike, and the company management in the presence of Tamil Nadu Labour Minister T M Anbarasan and labour officials last night, according to a company statement.
According to the agreement, 3,826 workers in the level of ‘operators’ will benefit, with a wage hike effective from April 2010. The previous wage agreement ended this March.
According to officials at the Labour Commissioner’s office at Chennai, apart from the wage hike, workers would also get other welfare benefits. Union sources said the hike, based on seniority, would range between Rs 6,100 and Rs 10,000. The company also agreed to take back 48 workers, who were suspended last year.
It may be noted on July 13, employees at the factory went on a strike, protesting against the low wage hikes and demanding the reinstatement of 48 suspended workers.
Following a two day strike, the labour department and the state government intervened and reached an agreement, whereby the union would accept the wage hikes offered by the management and the management would revoke the suspension of the 48 workers.
The Sriperumbudur plant produces 500,000 to 800,000 handsets a day. The company would incur a loss of around Rs 120 crore per shift if production is halted for any reason, according to company sources.
