Toyota muddle may hit plans for new plant

Toyota muddle may hit plans for new plant
The Times of India

EVEN as the Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) plant in Bidadi, outside Bangalore, stayed shut for the third day in a row on Monday following a lockout declared by the management, a company spokesperson said the car maker may relook at its decision to have a second car plant in the state. Toyota had secured the state government’s nod recently to build another plant with the capacity to produce over 1,50,000 small cars, possibly in JV with Daihatsu. The 1,500 unionised workers of the Japanese company went on strike on Friday after three employees got dismissed from service for alleged misconduct on duty. A fourth employee against whom a probe was conducted was reinstated while 11 more workers stayed suspended pending final report on some incidents which occurred in 2004.

Meanwhile, allegations and counter-allegations continued on Monday. The CITU-affiliated Toyota-Kirloskar union wanted the government to prosecute the management for declaring an indefinite lockout of the plant, for violating the industrial dispute acts and for indulging in other ‘illegal acts’. A TKM spokesperson however said the union had violated the law by calling for a strike of a utility governed by the essential services act without giving 14 days notice. The law permitted the management to declare a lockout under the circumstances as it feared danger to life and property of the employees.

The management stayed away from the conciliation meeting of the labour commissioner on Monday since it feared danger to the lives of officials from the striking workers, the spokesperson said.

He added that talks will be resumed only after tempers cool. While it was not a precondition, the management would prefer the strike to be called off before any negotiations were held. The spokesperson said the 900 plus non-unionised TKM employees plus maintenance teams were multi-skilled and could take up the task of producing cars. In a statement, the union functionaries urged the government to order the three dismissals to be kept in abeyance. The government should immediately refer the matter for a court of inquiry as per Section 10 (1) (b) of the Industrial Disputes Act, CITU officials said.

They said the management ought to have sought permission under Section 33 (1) (b) of the Act before passing the dismissal orders.