Hyundai workers strike continues, plan demonstrations next week

Chennai, Nov. 3:

The strike by the workers at Hyundai Motor India Ltd is set to continue over the weekend with the Hyundai Motor India Employees’ Union announcing a series of demonstrations starting Monday.

Addressing workers at the Sipcot Industrial Estate project office next to the Hyundai Motor India car plant, A. Soundararajan, Honorary President of the union, said the objective will be to draw the attention of the State Government to the plight of the workers.

Primary goal

The union, which claims to represent a majority of the permanent workers at the Korean multinational’s car factory, has been fighting for management recognition for nearly five years. Its primary goal now is to ensure that the 27 workers who have lost their jobs during the course of the agitations are reinstated, Soundararajan said.

According to a statement from Hyundai Motor, production at the car plant is running to schedule and the number of workers who have abstained from work has dropped to 110. On Saturday, the production is expected to be about 2,340 cars against 2,176 a day earlier. (The car plant is the second largest in India with an annual production capacity of 6.3 lakh cars.)

The company has a management-recognised union, the United Union of Hyundai Employees with 1,300 of the 2007 permanent employees and will not recognise another union.

The management has also signed a wage settlement with the union last month.

Addressing a crowd of over 150-200 workers who had gathered at the venue about 35 km to the West of Chennai at Irungattukottai, Soundararajan said that he has spoken to the State Minister concerned. Also, while the company management may refute the number of workers involved in the strike, it cannot be denied that a “significant number” of workers are participating and that as such it qualifies as an industrial dispute in which the Tamil Nadu Government has to mediate, he said.

Seeks support

The workers, who have been on strike since Tuesday, will start a series of demonstrations from Monday. First, dismissed workers will stage a demonstration near the factory, and subsequently by workers in front of the District Collector’s office and in Chennai, he announced.

Soundararajan, who is also the General Secretary of the CITU, a central trade union, said the HMIEU will solicit the support of other trade unions.

(This article was published in the Business Line print edition dated November 4, 2012)