Production down by 10,000 bikes due to strike: Royal Enfield

Workers abstain from work again after company refuses to allow mobile phones

KANCHEEPURAM,TAMILNADU,30/09/2018 : Royal Enfield workers showing mobile phone against the banned mobile phone in the factory permises,at Oragadam in Kancheepuram on September 30, 2018. Photo: B.Velankanni Raj

A section of workers at the Royal Enfield plant in Oragadam went on strike yet again on Monday, even as the company said the earlier strike in September resulted in loss of production of 10,000 motorcycles.

“Starting September 24, 2018, a section of the workforce at the Oragadam facility near Chennai did not report for work. This has resulted in loss of production of 10,000 motorcycles in September 2018,” Eicher Motors, the parent company of Royal Enfield, said in a stock exchange announcement on Monday.

The management had told the workers to report for duty from Sunday’s first shift. However, they were told to leave their mobile phones with the security personnel. They objected to this and did not report for duty.

When the same condition was imposed on Monday, the workers decided to protest. “From Monday morning, all the permanent workers and a section of trainees abstained from reporting for duty urging the management to either allow the mobile phones inside the factory or provide a locker to safeguard privacy,” R. Sampath, vice president of Royal Enfield Employees Union, said.

Salary to be cut

Royal Enfield has informed the employees that their salary would be cut for the days they abstained from work. “The issue has been escalated and the Labour Commissioner is likely to hear both sides on Wednesday,” said Mr. Sampath

Meanwhile, the strike at the factories of Yamaha and Myoung Shin Automotive India Pvt Ltd (MSI), a supplier of Hyundai, continues and the talks before the Labour Commissioner are likely to resume soon.