Hresonance
believes in the principle of ‘Hear The Other Party.’ In keeping with that
policy, Hresonance invited statement of the Union at Bajaj Auto employees,
Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sanghatana on the issue of ‘Stoppage of Work’ and the
demand regarding shares of the Company. Here is their response published
unedited. The views expressed here are exclusively of the VKKS, and not of this blogger.
Statement
of Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sanghatana
“Stoppage” at Chakan,
Pune Plant of Bajaj Auto Ltd,
From 25th
June, 2013
We are the
only MRTU recognized Union at Akurdi and Chakan plant. We believe that
cooperation is must but conflict is also an expression of some un-addressed
lacunae in the rationale of our system and culture.
We take the opportunity to convey to
you our anguish that despite our sincere efforts to develop good harmonious
relations, but the Bajaj management does not changed its anti labor and anti
union
approaches and actions. To protect the workers interest, Union had been
compelled to refer the various matters in court of law. At present various
matters are pending before the court of law. There is a need to understand the
root causes of the problem and hence we are giving you the brief background and
facts in chronological order:
[Photograph of Mr Dilip Pawar, President of Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sanghatana]
- Scenario at Chakan Plant before
formation of the Union: As you know that Chakan plant has
been set up in the year 1999. In early days management shown lot of dreams
to the employees and created hopes for better future. But over a period of
time employees understood and experienced that management ditched them by
giving false hopes and assurances. Employees started experiencing exactly
opposite what was committed to them by the management. The workers were
experiencing various kind of harassments as follows:
a) The management
made overtime compulsory and refused to pay overtime.
b) The management
arbitrarily deciding the shift timings and compelling workers to adjust
themselves accordingly.
c) Workers were
getting overloaded with excessive workload and if any worker raised the
grievance he was getting ill treatment by abusive language and punishment.
d) The wages of
the workers were low and getting very low yearly increments.
e) There was no
job satisfaction among the workers. The tag of ‘World Class Company’ was just
for namesake. There was totally negative approach towards workers.
f) The workers
were getting punished by inhumane way.
- Formation of the Union at Chakan
Plant:
Because of
above mentioned adamant and suppressive attitude of the management, the workers
at chakan plant decided to form union, in the month of January, 2010. There was
tremendous fear among the workers in terms of formation of union but at the
same time harassment of the management was at its peak level and hence they
decided to join Vishwa Kalyan Kamagar Sanghatana (VKKS) which was the
recognized union under MRTU for Akurdi Plant. In due course of time VKKS got
official recognition under MRTU for Chakan Plant.
- Scenario after formation of the
Union:
a)
The First
General Body Meeting (G.B.M) of Union held on 26th January, 2010 and
afterwards officially VKKS has been recognized by the Management. The issues
got discussed in peaceful manner and the first Collective Bargaining settlement
was signed on 21st May, 2010.
b)
In September, 2010, VKKS got official recognition
under MRTU and good relationship got established. All the issues were getting
discussed and resolved across the table and day by day relationship was getting
improved.
- Pant Nagar Episode:
a) The Pant Nagar
plant got established in the year 2007. In Pant Nagar also chakan episode got
repeated. The situation at Pantnagar Plant was similar to that of the Chakan
Plant and because of this attitude of the management the workers at Pantnagar
started agitations in the month of May, 2012. These agitations at Pant Nagar
were the outburst of the anger against management harassment and declaration of
very low wage increment. Some of the workers approached VKKS to support their
agitation. VKKS suggested the Bajaj Management at Akurdi to establish dialogue
with Pant Nagar workers but management refused to discuss. As a result of this
the workers had no option but to form union. The workers of Pant Nagar knew that it is next
to impossible to get union registration in Uttara-khand and therefore they
requested Vishva Kalyan Kamgar Sanghatana for the membership. Considering their
situation and request VKKS given them membership and majority of the workers
from Pant Nagar joined VKKS.
b) The first
positive step has been taken by VKKS and directed all workers to withdraw the
agitation and start production. In this way all workers resumed their duties
and brought normalcy.
c) The above
mentioned episode has been informed to the Bajaj Management through an official
letter by VKKS but management refused to accept any letter. The management also
refused the Charter of Demands submitted by VKKS for Pant Nagar Workers.
d) The argument
of the management was, the registration of VKKS is only for Maharashtra and
they don’t have any right to take up any membership from outside Maharashtra.
The VKKS submitted all the documents including the letter from Additional
Commissioner, Pune. But management was adamant on their stand and surprisingly,
the Labour Department of Uttarakhand also using the same language that of a Management.
Therefore, VKKS has been compelled to refer this matter at Nainital High Court.
On the other hand management refused to bargain collectively for Pant Nagar
workers, we have been compelled to refer this matter under conciliation. Finally,
Hon. High Court given a judgment in favour of VKKS and directed the Labour
Department of Uttarakhand to start the conciliation process with VKKS.
e) We hereby
bring to your notice that all our members have been harassed by the management
and compelled them to accept the settlement (which is totally one sided, unfair
and illegal) signed by the puppet Union. This strategy is very much short
sighted; this cannot be the permanent solution. This achievement of the
management is just due to sheer power and there is no ethical ground at all.
History again and again proved that such strategies don’t work in the long
term.
f) In short, we
never approached Pant Nagar Workers for joining the Union but due to harassment
by the local management and low increment declared by the management they
joined VKKS. In other words management compelled them, due to their wrong
behaviour, to join VKKS. Its management failure and to save themselves they are
blaming VKKS.
- Changed Relationship at Chakan
Plant after formation of the Union at Pant Nagar.
It seems that
to take the revenge of Pant Nagar Episode, Management started harassment at
Chakan Plant. Therefore, they decided to vitiate the atmosphere at Chakan. Before,
Pant Nagar Episode the relationship at Chakan was normal, how all of a sudden
whole atmosphere got vitiated? To vitiate the atmosphere at Chakan management
started harassing the workers in following way:
a) Created an
issue of line balancing and created unnecessary dispute to take action against
union members.
b) First giving
additional manpower, achieving higher targets and then removing additional
manpower and asking for the same level of impossible targets. Based on false
targets and false reports management started giving warning letters, show cause
notice, suspension, pending enquiry suspension and dismissals.
c) From June 2012
(after the Pant Nagar Episode) management started various actions. For your
kind information we are giving it in the following table:
Sr. No.
|
Particulars
|
Numbers
|
1
|
Suspensions
|
22
|
2
|
Pending Enquiry suspension
|
8
|
3
|
Show cause Notice and Enquiry
|
2
|
4
|
Domestic Enquiry
|
3
|
5
|
Terminations / Dismissals
|
1
|
d) Management
just not stopped from taking false and illegal actions but also refused to
review the increment as per settlement dated 21st May, 2010. Therefore
union had no option but to terminate Long Term Settlement. Against said
termination letter management went to Court.
e) Management
were using flexible manpower like earn & learn, trainee and contract
workers to frame false charges against union members and again we have been
compelled to file the cases against Company on the issue of earn & learn,
trainee, contract, etc.
f) Management
started giving impossible production targets with an objective of taking action
against union members and hence we demanded scientific time study based on ILO
norms. This matter is also referred to court of law.
- Requested for Dialogue: In short the relationship at
Chakan got totally disturbed due to
WRONG, UNFAIR and ILLEGAL behaviour of the management. The management
always compelled us to refer most of the issues to court of law instead of
resolving the same through discussions.
The Workers
were in vulnerable situation and such situation is not good for any
organization in terms of growth and sustainability. There is entire list of
issues which prevents the development of harmonious industrial relations in the
Company. In the absence of a dialogue and in the face of
utter lack of desire being demonstrated by the management, it was very
difficult to either build good harmonious relations, or to adopt reasonable
attitude. We were finding it impossible to maintain relations or to resolve
issues amicably.
- Requested for Intervention to
bring normalcy: We
requested to M.D. Mr. Rajeev Bajaj to save the relationship. We also
requested him to give us an opportunity to present our case with
documentary proofs and to prove our position. It is unfortunate that M.D.
never took it seriously. On the contrary the situation further worsened.
Violation
of the Settlement dated 21st May 2010 and other issues in Chakan
Plant:
The issue of contract labour, earn
& learn, trainees, violation of the settlement dated 21st May,
2010 are pending before the court of law. Union have been compelled to file
cases on the above matters only because management refused to discuss these
issues across the table.
The Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sanghatana
and the Bajaj Auto Ltd signed the settlement on 21st May 2010 deciding
the wages and service conditions of workmen working at Chakan Plant. As per the
settlement the increase of 12%, 8% and 8% was agreed for the first, second and
third year respectively.
In the settlement dated 21st
May 2010, it was agreed that if the annual increment awarded to the similar
category of employees across the Bajaj Auto Ltd. is higher than the above
mentioned increments in that case higher % of increment will be made applicable
to workmen covered under said settlement. Management refused to do so and
violated the clause no. 17 – C of the settlement. And hence Union have been
compelled to file case in Industrial Court, Pune.
Further, in the said settlement,
though the settlement is of 9 years, it was agreed that wages will be discussed
and reviewed periodically every 3 years. It was further agreed that for any
reason whatsoever the wages/salary review is not done after every 3 years, both
the parties shall have a right to terminate the settlement for the remaining
period. (Clause No. 2-B). Bajaj Management refused to “REVIEW” and hence Union
had no option but to terminate the settlement as per the said clause and
submitted fresh Charter of Demands. Bajaj Management refused to discuss demands
submitted by the Union and hence Union have been compelled to admit this matter
under conciliation at Labour Commissioner Office, Pune.
Management filed a case against union
in terms of cancellation of the registration of the Union. The matter is
pending before the Hon. High Court.
From all above one can understand that
the basic objective of the Bajaj Management is to demolish the Union. They did
not like the fact that Chakan workers and Pant Nagar workers joined the Union.
They succeeded at Pant Nagar by paying heavy price and now trying to adopt same
strategy at Chakan.
Why stoppage?
From the above mentioned facts and
considering the Bajaj History it is now very clear to the union that Bajaj Management
will never share their profitability with workers. Bajaj Management always
shared profit with the management staff by Paying “BONUSES & INCREMENTS”
but always refused to share the profitability with the workers. Earlier we
thought that at least this sharing can be done by getting reasonably good wages
and better service conditions. But management always refused to do so and never
consider profitability while deciding wage rise and hence to get permanent
solution in terms of profit sharing we demanded “500 shares” in the month of January 2013. Bajaj Management did not
respond to this demand. Therefore union have been compelled to go on “stoppage”
from 25th June, 2013. Only after “stoppage”, Bajaj Management is trying
to highlight this issue. While addressing the press, Mr. Rajeev Bajaj rejected
this demand by saying “ridiculous”. How this demand is ridiculous? On the
contrary this demand is very much “PRO-COMPANY”.
This demand is
made in order to motivate workers for better performance and increase
prosperity. The prosperity due to better performance should be shared with
workers, not fully but to some extent, so that they are bound to feel
themselves as a part of the Company. Also accepting this demand will be a
tribute to Late Shri Jamanalalji Bajaj
who believing in Gandhian philosophy of “Trusteeship”. This demand is based on Trusteeship and will
improve harmony & peace in the Company. Thus this demand is to the
advantage of both the parties. Also this demand will generate direct stake of
workmen in the overall performance of the Company and also induces motivation
not only to perform better but also become vigilant & cooperative in
inter-functional integration of the work organization.
In last few
years the Performance of the Company is outstanding but workers could not get
their due share.
|
PARTICULARS /
YEARS
|
2001
|
2002
|
2003
|
2005
|
2006
|
2007
|
2009
|
2010
|
2011
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL CAPITAL EMPLOYED
|
3150
|
3682
|
4253
|
5501
|
6325
|
7233
|
3443
|
4268
|
5265
|
|
INCOME
|
3964
|
4402
|
5070
|
6322
|
8106
|
10076
|
8932
|
12043
|
16974
|
|
EXPENDITURE OTHER THAN
LABOUR COST,
|
3169
|
3395
|
3826
|
4752
|
6037
|
7803
|
7265
|
8929
|
12748
|
|
DEPRECIATION &
INTEREST
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
VALUE ADDITION
|
795
|
1007
|
1244
|
1570
|
2069
|
2273
|
1667
|
3114
|
4226
|
|
EMPLOYEES SHARE IN VALUE
ADDITION
|
244
|
237
|
283
|
249
|
274
|
301
|
354
|
399
|
488
|
|
CAPITAL SHARE IN VALUE
ADDITION
|
551
|
770
|
961
|
1321
|
1795
|
1972
|
1313
|
2715
|
3738
|
|
EMPLOYEES SHARE IN VALUE
ADDITION (%)
|
31
|
24
|
23
|
16
|
13
|
13
|
21
|
13
|
12
|
|
CAPITAL SHARE IN VALUE
ADDITION (%)
|
69
|
76
|
77
|
84
|
87
|
87
|
79
|
87
|
88
|
|
RETURN TO CAPITAL (%)
|
17
|
21
|
23
|
24
|
28
|
27
|
38
|
64
|
71.00
|
|
Gross Profit
|
369
|
587
|
788
|
1086
|
1580
|
1728
|
958
|
2411
|
4350
|
|
Net Profit
|
249
|
518
|
534
|
764
|
1123
|
1237
|
654
|
1702
|
3339
|
|
Ratio of Employees Share
& Income
|
6.16
|
5.38
|
5.58
|
3.94
|
3.38
|
2.99
|
3.96
|
3.31
|
2.87
|
The above table reveals that though
the Performance of the Company got improved drastically, Employees share in
Value Addition reduced drastically from 31% to 12%. Even among Employees the
share of workers is negligible as against management staff.
All workers i.e. around 1450 workers are
getting around Rs.300/- per Pulsar. It means per worker per Pulsar amounts to 22
PAISA !!!
Share Holder & Management Staff
get around Rs. 16700/- per Pulsar
Governments get around Rs. 10000/- per
Pulsar
Dealers get around Rs. 10,000/- per
Pulsar
What about workers who creates this
wealth? They are getting only around Rs. 300/- per Pulsar & Per worker it
is 22 PAISA.
Therefore,
what is wrong in demanding shares?
VISHWA
KALYAN KAMAGAR SANGHATAN
President
General Secretary