OF all the demands made by the Bajaj Auto union at Chakan, the most preposterous has to be the one demanding workers be given 500 shares each at R10 apiece (market value: R2,013 per share). The union also wants workers’ children to be educated using the company’s CSR funds…. The union had made a similar demand for shares last June and, at that time, production was disrupted for close to 50 days. Given that Bajaj Auto has offered to raise wages by R9,000-10,000 per month … the union is being irresponsible in, once again, stalling production….

Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court will hear the management’s petition asking it to declare the termination of the wage agreement ‘unlawful’. Litigation can’t be good for anyone and workers need to recognise that while they may get away with their demands in the near-term, unreasonable ones will only prompt managements to rely more on automation…. Some of this is already happening…. To be sure, much of this can be attributed to improvements in productivity. But the fact is that the level of employment being generated for every million rupees of manufacturing had dropped dramatically from 12 in FY05 to around seven today. That should be reason enough for union leaders to behave more responsibly. — (April 19)