Hero MotoCorp workers on the edge as negotiations fail

Labour unrest is seething at the Gurgaon plant of auto giant Hero MotoCorp over a dispute on wage hike settlement of nearly 1,200 workers pending since August 2012. Deevakar Anand reports.

Labour unrest is seething at the Gurgaon plant of auto giant Hero MotoCorp over a dispute on wage hike settlement of nearly 1,200 workers pending since August 2012.

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A source, who was part of the latest talks between the workers and the management — a nearly six-hour marathon negotiation that stretched till late evening on Tuesday — told

HT that both parties had refused to compromise during the meeting.

While the workers are demanding a three-fold hike, which amounts to nearly Rs. 15,000-16,000, the company is offering them only Rs. 6,500.

“The management doesn't seem to appreciate the workers’ demand,” said the source.

He also said that an armoured anti-riot police vehicle had to be called in at the auto plant on Monday after tension gripped the premises as a worker fainted after being reprimanded by the human resource department over some issue.

“Our patience is being tested now and we will have no option but escalate the protest against the management's rigid stand,” said a key member of the Hero MotoCorp workers' union, on condition of anonymity.

“What we are demanding is nothing but a parity of our salaries with our counterparts in Maruti and Honda. Since Hero MotoCorp is a big company and we live in the same city, our cost of living is no less,” the union member added.

The company management, however, has remained tight-lipped and refrained from any response in the last one week. The public relations representatives of the company have been resisting all attempts by HT to solicit a response.

Labour unrest over wage settlements have been very common in the Gurgaon-Manesar-Bawal auto-belt.

A similar dispute had led to unprecedented labour violence in the region last year when workers of the Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plant allegedly set the factory premises on fire that killed a senior HR manager.