Workers' protest at Tata Motors' Jamshedpur plant continues

Mumbai: Workers at Tata Motors' Jamshedpur plant continued with their agitation for the third consecutive day on Thursday over non-payment of the revised wages, impacting production of commercial vehicles.

The agitating workers, who are classified as 'temporary', claimed production at the facility, which produces up to 9,000 commercial vehicles per month or 300 units daily across three shifts, has been impacted.

The Jameshedpur plant of the automaker, which is struggling on the domestic front because of lacklustre performance in the commercial vehicles segment and undergoing a massive restructuring, employs over 10,000 workers, of which 5,200 are permanent and the rest are temporary.

The temporary workers are staging a sit-in at the main gate of the plant since Tuesday afternoon, demanding payment of wages in accordance with the new three-year wage agreement signed with the permanent workers union early last month.

"The issue between the management and temporary workers over the payment of revised wages has not been resolved and the workers are continuing with their protest for the third day today. Due to this, production at the plan has hit badly," a source in the workers' union said.

"...It is important to note that the production continues and the company will take necessary remedial measures to make up for any potential delays," a company spokesperson said in a statement.

It added these are internal matters between the workmen and the company and will be resolved as the company is in "constant dialogue" with the agitating workers.

Sources in the plant had said yesterday that the plant had come to halt on Tuesday after the temporary employees started the agitation as the wages were not in sync with what was promised by the management in the new wage agreement with the permanent workers union.

According to sources, permanent workers have been given a 72 per cent hike in salaries in FY18 as part of a three-year wage settlement agreement which aims to double their salaries. They will receive hikes of 15 per cent and 13 per cent over the next two years.

This translates into a hike of Rs 12,500 per month for the permanent employees for FY18, sources said, adding the same for temporary workers had been promised at Rs 1,500-2,000.

However, when the wages were paid on Tuesday, the permanent workers received only Rs 6,500 extra whereas the temporary employees were paid as per the older and now-defunct agreement, they said.

A permanent worker on an average gets Rs 30,000 to Rs 32,000 a month and a temporary one gets around Rs 12,000-13,000 per month, the sources said.

The Tata Motors scrip shed 1.17 per cent to close at Rs 378.90 a piece on the BSE, which closed the session flat today.