The family members of Force Motors workers at the Akurdi plant have withdrawn their agitation after 11 days of indefinite fasting and a morcha at the company gates on Tuesday. The company has agreed to negotiate a wage agreement directly with the workers, bypassing the rival trade unions, a workers’ representative said.
The company has laid down a pre-condition for starting negotiations that the workers give an undertaking that they were not part of either of the trade unions in the company, the representative said. Negotiations are expected to begin next week. The company management did not make any official statement or share any details of the negotiations.
Workers’ families were protesting against the 10-year delay in signing a wage agreement for the last 11 days. The company had blamed the delay in signing a wage agreement to the ongoing litigation between the company and its Force Motors workers union over recognition. The case is pending in the Supreme Court. The dispute is regarding official recognition of the union that will represent the workers between rival unions in the company — the Bharatiya Kamgar Sena (BKS) and the Pune Employees Union (PEU)-AITUC.
The workers had expressed their willingness to negotiate directly with the company and not involving any of the unions in the talks. The workers have got a no objection certificate from both the BKS and the PEU to negotiate a wage agreement directly with the company.
