Mahindra Nashik plant strike called off

A workers' strike at Mahindra & Mahindra's (M&M) Nashik plant, seeking wage hikes and a strike proposed from Monday (11 March) has been called off.

''Operations in all shifts is expected to be normal soon. The management and union will continue their ongoing dialogue so as to reach a mutual agreement. The management expects the production loss to be made good,'' Mahindra & Mahindra said in a statement late Thursday.

The strike had begun on 5 March 2013 at 6:00 pm.

On Wednesday, the automobile major said it suffered a production loss of 500 units following the 'tools down' strike.

''The company has had a production loss of around 500 vehicles till date, which currently will have no immediate impact on sales as it has three weeks' stock in the pipeline,'' M&M said in a statement on Wednesday.

M&M makes utility vehicles Xylo, Scorpio, Bolero and sedan Verito from the unit.

The workers at the Nashik plant were agitating for higher wages after the three-year wage pact lapsed earlier in February this year.

two years ago on 6 May 2011, workers at M&M's Nashik unit had gone on a day-long tools-down strike, demanding higher wages. The workers also went on a fortnight-long strike in May 2009, protesting against the suspension of a union leader.

This is the second instance of labour unrest in the auto sector this year. Earlier two-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp's Gurgaon unit too had faced industrial action over wage hikes.