Toyota Kirloskar declares lock out

Bangalore: Toyota Kirloskar Motor has declared an indefinite lock out of its unit here after its employees declared a snap strike demanding that the company reinstate three dismissed employees.

According to the company's general manager (corporte planning division), A R Shankar, the company declared an indefinite lock out on 1:30 pm Sunday.

TKM's employees went on a snap strike from January 6.

Shankar said the dispute regarding dismissal of three of its employees pending an inquiry against them last year was now before the deputy labour commissioner and conciliation proceedings were under progress.

The workers' lightning strike started on January 6. They are protesting the management's decision to dismiss three of their colleagues found "guilty of gross misconduct following independent inquiries."

The deputy labour commissioner is holding a meeting here tomorrow on the dispute, Shankar said.

The management's decision is connected to an incident in 2004 when the company suspended 15 employees for disruption of work and for disciplinary reasons. Later the company decided to reinstate one of them, and dismissed three employees.

The company at the time reinstated one employee, as it found that the misconduct proved against him did not warrant dismissal from the service. A spokesperson said, "We always have been fair and firm in all our actions."

Some employees were against the findings of the independent enquiries and began stoppage of work without a prior 14-day notice as required under the the Industrial Disputes Act and struck work illegally. They also forcibly prevented other employees from working.

TKM, which started commercial production of cars in 2000, has the capacity to roll out 60,000 units per year and the target for this year was 45,000 units.

It manufactures Innova and Corolla cars at its unit located in Bidadi on the city outskrits.

TKML has had three strikes at its plant started its operations in 1997. Employees struck work in 2001 and 2002 and last year, the company entered into a wage pact, revising remuneration by 15 to 18 per cent. TKM has 2,378 staff on its rolls of which 1,550 are union-affiliated workers. According to the company the stoppage of work has caused production loss worth around Rs1 crore since Friday.