Strike by workers against Apollo Tyres, the leading Indian tyre maker, is declared by the Gujarat government as illegal according to a senior state government official which leads to the company having the power to hire new workers if the strikers do not resume to work on the given time.
Deputy Labour Commissioner, K O Shah said that the state government has officially declared that the workers of Apollo Tyres who are striking at the company’s Waghodia plant near Vadodara has been declared as illegal and that the company management itself is prohibiting such activities.
He said that his department has already sent a proposal to the labour department to officially declare the strike as illegal as it violates the memorandum of understanding that they signed last Saturday to resume to work on the third shift of the next day.
“There were several rounds of meetings till late night on Wednesday, but a solution has not been reached yet. We are working closely with both parties to reach an amicable solution, Meanwhile, the strike has been declared illegal”, Shah said.
He also added that once it is officially declared as illegal, the management will have to automatically look for new workers if the workers have failed to resume to work on the time given to them.
Apollo Tyre has not reported yet if it will hire temporary workers, but sources said that the company will do fresh hiring.
The workers have left their job to strike against the company since October 23 to demand recognition of their new union called the Bhartiya Majdoor Sangh (BMS) as well as the reinstatement of two workers who have been suspended.
700 strikers have already signed the MoU last Saturday but said that they will only go back to work if their demands will be met and that includes receiving full wages for the period that they have left to strike.
(RJA)