M&M’s output back on track as Nasik stir ends

India's leading utility vehicle maker, Mahindra & Mahindra, said that it had resumed production from yesterday at its Nashik plant in Maharashtra after a strike ended on Monday, as the company management and the workers union had reached a compromise. (See: Strike hits production at Mahindra & Mahindra's Nasik plant) 

An industrial court had ruled last week the tool-down strike, which started on 4 May in protest against disciplinary action against a union leader, was unjustified, and had ordered the strike to be called off.

The plant, which has a production capacity of 150,000 vehicles annually, produces M&M's flagship Scorpio utility vehicle as well as the Bolero, the Renault Logan sedan and other models.

The workers had gone on an indefinite strike in protest against the suspension of union president Madhav Dhatrak by the company management and company's alleged delay in signing the wage agreement, which the union claimed was pending for the last 22 months.

''The company management and M&M Workers' Union (Internal), at a joint meeting on Monday night, reached the settlement. Both have decided to settle the issue of the union president's suspension and wage agreement within the next 10-12 days,'' Business Standard quoted a union official as saying.

Shares of M&M surged after the news was released.

The strike had badly affected the production at M&M and also caused losses to its 350 vendors across the country. M&M itself has reportedly lost the production of 6,000 units in the past 13 working days, which it estimated to be worth around Rs325 crore. The losses to the vendors are estimated at Rs225 crore during the last 10 days.