Permanent workers strike at Asahi India Ltd

Over 220 permanent workers who started protesting on July 22^nd, have struck work demanding reinstatement of 28 dismissed workers and negotiation of new wage agreement with the union.

Speaking to Thozhilalar Koodam, Comrade Kannan of CITU said that the management has not honored the commitment made before District Collector to complete the discussions with the union on the above demands and Labour Department has not ensured that the negotiations are completed in timely manner.

On the wage negotiation, workers had demanded Rs 12000 increment over three years, Comrade Kannan said. The management had proposed Rs 8500 increment on basic scale and Rs 2500 on variable scale. However, the management has now withdrawn this offer and is only offering Rs 5000 to Rs 6000 as increment.

The management has also not been willing to talk to the union on reinstatement of workers. They are only willing to negotiate a termination settlement which the workers have now rejected.

The Labour Department had called for a meeting between the management and the union representatives on Monday and meetings are scheduled for Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Renault Nissan India Thozhilalar Sangam has extended its solidarity to the striking workers. “”The union office bearers called us and expressed solidarity. Asahi is a vendor company of Nissan and the union’s support is important”, said an Asahi union representative. He called for similar solidarity actions from other unions and said it would greatly help their cause.

https://tnlabour.in/news/10450