Ford India workers call off strike, factory operates on single shift

Out of the total 2,600 workers at Ford India Maraimalainagar plant, about 1,300 have joined back their duty now and others as and when needed will be called for duty.

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Earlier Ford said, “To those employees who continue to engage in the strike, the company shall take appropriate actions, including imposing loss of pay, as per applicable legal provisions.”

The workers at Ford India’s Chennai plant, who have been on strike since 30 May, demanding a better severance package, have called off the strike. However, this is just a temporary move say the workers.

According to Ford, the company earlier had offered severance packages for approximately 115 days of gross wages for each completed year of service (of an employee) which was significantly higher than the statutory severance package.

A senior worker has said that Ford India is operating the factory for one shift. The company has to deliver 1,500 EcoSport vehicles pending to be rolled out of its plant near here for overseas markets.

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The worker said, “The striking workers’ union demanding a better severance package as the plant will be closed permanently by the end of this month, have called off their strike.”

“But the factory is operational with one shift as the number of vehicles to be produced is only about 1,500 for this month”, the worker further said.

According to the statement of a worker, “The talks are on and the final decision on the number of days per year is yet to be arrived at.”

As per the worker, about 130 cars are being rolled out of the assembly lines per day. Speaking about the severance package, the worker said it consists of three components viz., number of days salary per year x number of years of service; lumpsum of Rs 240,000 and Rs 50,000 x number of years of service.

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He said the dispute is majorly on the first component, the number of days that has to be taken into account per year.

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