Toyota Kirloskar Motor has declared a lockout at its Bidadi car assembly plant following an indefinite strike by some of the workforce.
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The Bidadi plant has been in the eye of an industrial relations storm since Friday when about 60% of the 2,500 workers there suddenly went on strike.
The workers are demanding the reinstatement of three employees dismissed last year. The company has declared the strike illegal as the workers did not give the two week notice mandatory in India.
A Toyota executive who requested anonymity told just-auto that the lock-out is intended to safeguard the plant and its employees rather than as a solution to the crisis.
Union officials could not be reached for comment.
Toyota’s understandable precaution comes only a few months after striking workers at a Honda motorcycle plant in Gurgaon, in northern India, clashed with management and police resulting in many workers being injured and hospitalised.
By that time the situation had become political and the plant was consequently shut down for some days.
Toyota is on the verge of expanding its operations in India. The company has just won approval from the Karnataka state government to set up an INR11.47bn plant near the existing plant. The new plant will have a production capacity of 150,000 cars a year and will create 2,600 jobs.
Deepesh Rathore/Tilak Swarup
