Automotive component manufacturer Bosch agreed to lift the lockout at its plant at Naganathapura with effect from the first shift starting at 6 a.m. on Saturday, following a direction by the Additional Labour Commissioner on Friday.
Participating in a meeting convened by the Labour Department, company officials agreed to start operations from Saturday, while continuing talks with the union on the wage dispute. The workers, represented by the MICO Karmikara Sangha (MKS), agreed to restore “normalcy” at the plant.
MKS president Prasanna Kumar urged Bosch to “expedite wage negotiations”, which would be conducive to “a better industrial relations climate”. He said department officials advised Bosch that “a continued lockout would be inappropriate during conciliatory proceedings”.
Bosch declared a lockout at the Naganathapura plant on Monday night. It had also issued a lockout notice at its other plant in the city, at Audugodi, in February. A company source said it had also agreed to “withdraw” the lockout notice served at the Audugodi plant.
The MKS termed Bosch's lockout notice “illegal” because it was not served to the union. Both sides held a bilateral meeting on Friday, which was inconclusive. They later met with officials of the Labour Department and agreed to continue conciliatory talks on March 15.
