• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• BL Club
• Smartbuy
• Books
• Gallery

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Mr H.S. Lheem, MD, Hyundai Motor India

Our Bureau

Chennai, July 25 Hyundai Motor India hopes that the nearly 300 technicians, who have resorted to a sit-down strike demanding recognition of their association, will come around and accept the recent wage agreement signed with a Workers’ Committee.

Asserting that the company was not contemplating any punitive action against the workers, Mr H.S. Lheem, Managing Director, Hyundai Motor India, told journalists on Saturday, that he was confident the workers would accept the agreement.

The company signed an agreement last week with a Workers’ Committee, which was constituted after elections held among the 1,625 technicians in August 2007, giving the workers a wage increase of 21-24 per cent over three years, from April 1, 2009.

The increase works out to Rs 8,280 a month. The company had paid three month arrears to workers immediately after signing the agreement. Around 1,300 workers had participated in the election to the Workers’ Committee.

Company officials explained that nearly 900 workers had given their individual consent to the agreement, required under law.

Mr Lheem repeatedly asserted that the company was not in favour of granting recognition to a workers’ trade union and the workers’ committee model that it had followed since it set up shop here in 1996 had worked well for both the company and the workers. “Why should I negotiate with them? Why should I give them bargaining power,” Mr Lheem said.

Most of these technicians who had resorted to the sit-down strike belong to a group claiming to be Hyundai Motors Employees’ Association demanding recognition of the association by the company.

The dispute has come at a time when the company is looking to introduce a third shift at its second plant from September.

Mr Lheem said there had not been a major loss in production because of the agitation by a section of the workers.

Against a planned production target of 32,660 cars, the company had so far produced this month 31,647 cars – representing 96.3 per cent productivity.

Of the 1,960 cars targeted to be produced on Friday, the company turned out 1,404 – or 71.6 per cent of the target. The company was confident of being able to produce larger numbers.

More Stories on : Trade & Labour Unions | Cars

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line