GM officials meet Modi, warn workers with stern action

Top managers of General Motors (GM), India, met chief minister Narendra Modi yesterday but said that the workers' strike at the plant did not form part of the agenda though it did up for a brief mention.

Replying to questions about the meeting, GM India vice-president P Balendran told PTI that they had met him and other officials, but the meeting mainly concerned additional investments in the state for commercial vehicles from the company's partner SAIC Motor Corp Ltd's  stable and it was scheduled before the strike.

He added that the chief minister inquired about the strike and asked what was going on there. He added the government had been very pro-active in dealing with the issue.

He said the strike had been declared illegal by the government which had imposed Section 144 of IPC near the plant location to prevent any possible gathering of agitators.

On 16March workers struck work at the Halol facility, which has an installed capacity of 85,000 units a year. They were protesting transfer of some employees to dealership outlets and opposing a long-term wage settlement agreement signed in December last year.

The plant presently has one registered workers body -- GM Employees' Union, however, the company claims that the action is being co-ordinated by a new union, formed under the aegis of Congress-backed Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC).