Why Bajaj Auto is in no mood to listen to striking workers

Bajaj Auto managing director Rajiv Bajaj on Tuesday speaking to NDTV used words like "unlawful" and "illegal" to describe the ongoing workers' strike at its Chakan plant near Pune, calling the workers' demands "absurd".

Around 2,000 workers have been on strike since June 25 at Bajaj Auto's Chakan plant which manufactures motorcycles, demanding wage revision and equity share of the company at a discounted price.

The wage agreement has been in place for the last three years and is valid till 2019, Mr Bajaj pointed out adding, "They (striking workers) have no business to say they would like a complete review of the agreement... they also understand they cannot renegotiate therefore they have tried to raise absurd issues like free shares."

However, the two-wheeler manufacturer had no immediate plans to move production from the Chakan plant near Pune following the workers' stir, but a "Plan B" is in place, Mr Bajaj told NDTV.

"...we have started production in a small way at the Aurangabad plant. We have come up to 400 motorcycles a day. We will slowly move it up to 800 Pulsars a day.

"We have no intention at this time to go beyond Aurangabad, we have no intention at this time to commence production at Pantnagar," Mr Bajaj said.

Other than the Chakan plant, Bajaj Auto has manufacturing facilities in Aurangabad and Pantnagar.

"We will still prefer to wait a few days and hope that the situation at Chakan is resolved and that plant starts normally as it should," Mr Bajaj said.

The situation at Chakan has been improving, with 500 of the 1,500 workers reporting to work on Monday, Mr Bajaj said.

The Chakan plant produced 1,000 motorcycles on Monday as opposed to the usual 3,000 units, he added.

Bajaj Auto lost out on 25,000 Pulsars in June because of the stir at Chakan, Mr Bajaj told NDTV.

The Chakan plant manufactures the Pulsar, the two KTM Duke models, and the Avenger among others.

"Between us and our dealers we have inventory that is good enough for 4-5 weeks, retail sales will not suffer at all," Mr Bajaj said.

The workers union have been disrupting production since September, Mr Bajaj pointed out.

"I am hopeful that with each passing day, this situation in terms of more and more people coming in and producing larger numbers of Pulsars at Chakan will continue," Mr Bajaj said.