HC orders inspection at Renault-Nissan unit, sets July 3 deadline

Chennai: The Madras high court on Tuesday directed automobile major Renault Nissan’s manufacturing facility to strictly enforce Covid-19 guidelines, as recommended by the Directorate of Industrial Safety, by July 3

Chennai: The Madras high court on Tuesday directed automobile major Renault Nissan’s manufacturing facility to strictly enforce Covid-19 guidelines, as recommended by the Directorate of Industrial Safety, by July 3.

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The court also directed that a team of the Directorate of Industrial Safety inspect the manufacturing unit on the same day and submit a report.

The first bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, passed the order in the case filed by the workers’ union of Renault against the management.

In the previous hearing, the management had appealed to the court that a level-playing field be ensured so that the same standards should apply to all automobile manufacturing units without singling out the Renault-Nissan because of its more vociferous workers.

The court had then directed officials of the Directorate of Industrial Safety to visit the automobile manufacturing units on the outskirts of Chennai and ensure that uniform guidelines were imposed. Hyundai Motor India Limited, also represented in the case, submitted that its workers have no grievance.

The court observed that the main bone of contention between the management and the workers of Renault-Nissan has been the maintenance of a pitch ratio in the assembly lines. The pitch ratio would ensure that after every third car there would be a gap for a fourth car, so that the workmen can get some breathing time and social distancing can be ensured.

“What the workmen seem to want is that the workload should be reduced to ensure that distancing norms are maintained,” the court said in its orders.

After its previous inspection at the facility, the directorate recommended nine uniform guidelines on June 18, so that social distancing can be practised. The management submitted that they already follow most of the recommended guidelines and that steps are being taken to adhere to the remaining by July 3.

“During such time when the inspecting team visits the manufacturing facility of Renault-Nissan on July 3, 2021, such team will be entitled to interact with the members of the workmen’s union or the individual workmen for the purpose of assessing whether the guidelines are being adhered to,” the court said.