‘Permanent workers are kept out and apprentices, contract workers are being used by the management as the alternate work force to run the units for production,’ said TKMEU President Prasanna Kumar.
In response to a question, he said, ‘Contract workers, apprentices and supervisors all together around 3,000 employees are being used to run the plant .... There are about 1,700 apprentices. They are able to run one shift .... Unskilled workers are being engaged in direct line of production without proper training.’
The company did not respond to calls on Wednesday but on Tuesday it had denied reports regarding recruitment of contract workers and apprentices, saying, ‘It's absolutely untrue that Toyota is running its plants using 1,000 contract workers and 2,000 apprentices’. ‘We have started limited plant operations with the help of non-unionised team members, of whom majority are supervisors and engineers,’ it had said. Earlier as well, employee Unions had informed that the company had started running the plant using contract workers and apprentices.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor, a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corp of Japan, had on March 16 declared a lockout, following the failure of talks between the management and the union over wage negotiation. The Union is demanding a wage hike of Rs 4,000 as against Rs 3,050 proposed by the management.
The deadlock took a new twist on Monday after a lockout at two plants was lifted, with employees not resuming work as they objected to signing a good conduct undertaking as demanded by the company.
Prasanna Kumar said, ‘We had met Chief Minister on Tuesday requesting his intervension. We have submitted him a memorandum. He told us- he will check about the matter with the concerned officials.’ TKMEU General Secretary R Satish said, ‘Daily, we are going there with the hope that they may allow us to resume work. But we are not being allowed.’
Strike forces Lufthansa to cancel 600 flights
Frankfurt: Lufthansa, Germany’s biggest airline, said that it will cancel around 600 European and domestic flights on Thursday due to a strike by ground staff, baggage handlers and maintenance workers. The giant services sector union Verdi has called for the walkout at Germany’s major airports over a pay dispute. ‘The airlines of the Lufthansa group expect substantial disruptions to air traffic on Thursday, due to the strikes called by Verdi,’ it said in a statement on Wednesday.
It quoted media estimates that around 6,000 employees in Frankfurt alone would take part in the strike. ‘But there will also be disruptions in Munich, Duesseldorf, Cologne-Bonn, Stuttgart, Hamburg and Hanover,’ the statement added. ‘In view of the strikes, Lufthansa is cancelling almost all domestic and European connections in Frankfurt and Munich.’ Also affected would be long-haul connections to and from both Frankfurt and Munich, Lufthansa warned.
Flights operated by the Germanwings subsidiary and regional carriers would not be affected. The union’s aim is to increase pressure on the government ahead of a third round of pay talks due to start at the end of the month. The walkout is part of wider industrial action that has also seen strikes by other public-sector workers, including local transport staff and childcare workers.
Lufthansa said the strike would cost it millions of euros. A walkout last month by Frankfurt airport security staff, which brought chaos to the terminal as people were unable to get through security checks, cost it 3 million euros in operating profit.
In response to a question, he said, ‘Contract workers, apprentices and supervisors all together around 3,000 employees are being used to run the plant .... There are about 1,700 apprentices. They are able to run one shift .... Unskilled workers are being engaged in direct line of production without proper training.’
The company did not respond to calls on Wednesday but on Tuesday it had denied reports regarding recruitment of contract workers and apprentices, saying, ‘It's absolutely untrue that Toyota is running its plants using 1,000 contract workers and 2,000 apprentices’. ‘We have started limited plant operations with the help of non-unionised team members, of whom majority are supervisors and engineers,’ it had said. Earlier as well, employee Unions had informed that the company had started running the plant using contract workers and apprentices.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor, a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corp of Japan, had on March 16 declared a lockout, following the failure of talks between the management and the union over wage negotiation. The Union is demanding a wage hike of Rs 4,000 as against Rs 3,050 proposed by the management.
The deadlock took a new twist on Monday after a lockout at two plants was lifted, with employees not resuming work as they objected to signing a good conduct undertaking as demanded by the company.
Prasanna Kumar said, ‘We had met Chief Minister on Tuesday requesting his intervension. We have submitted him a memorandum. He told us- he will check about the matter with the concerned officials.’ TKMEU General Secretary R Satish said, ‘Daily, we are going there with the hope that they may allow us to resume work. But we are not being allowed.’
Strike forces Lufthansa to cancel 600 flights
Frankfurt: Lufthansa, Germany’s biggest airline, said that it will cancel around 600 European and domestic flights on Thursday due to a strike by ground staff, baggage handlers and maintenance workers. The giant services sector union Verdi has called for the walkout at Germany’s major airports over a pay dispute. ‘The airlines of the Lufthansa group expect substantial disruptions to air traffic on Thursday, due to the strikes called by Verdi,’ it said in a statement on Wednesday.
It quoted media estimates that around 6,000 employees in Frankfurt alone would take part in the strike. ‘But there will also be disruptions in Munich, Duesseldorf, Cologne-Bonn, Stuttgart, Hamburg and Hanover,’ the statement added. ‘In view of the strikes, Lufthansa is cancelling almost all domestic and European connections in Frankfurt and Munich.’ Also affected would be long-haul connections to and from both Frankfurt and Munich, Lufthansa warned.
Flights operated by the Germanwings subsidiary and regional carriers would not be affected. The union’s aim is to increase pressure on the government ahead of a third round of pay talks due to start at the end of the month. The walkout is part of wider industrial action that has also seen strikes by other public-sector workers, including local transport staff and childcare workers.
Lufthansa said the strike would cost it millions of euros. A walkout last month by Frankfurt airport security staff, which brought chaos to the terminal as people were unable to get through security checks, cost it 3 million euros in operating profit.