Over 20,000 workers of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited launched an indefinite strike on Monday to demand wage revision, reported PTI. The decision to go ahead with the strike was taken on Sunday after the 11th round of talks with the management over the weekend failed.

The wage revision is due from January 1, 2017. The last time the wages were revised was in 2012 for five years. The 55-year-old aerospace major has about 20,000 employees in production complexes in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Koraput in Odisha, Lucknow and Nashik, and four research and development units. The All-India HAL Trade Unions’ Co-ordination Committee asked all employees to participate in the strike and make it a “historical success”. The AIHALTUCC is an umbrella organisation of nine unions.

Advertisement

The committee said it “took stock of the situation arising out of the management’s refusal to consider the fair and reasonable demands” with regard to wage revision. “As talks and reconciliation efforts with the management failed on our demands, especially wage revision, we are going ahead with the indefinite strike from Monday as per the notice we served a fortnight ago [September 30] in compliance with the labour laws,” HAL trade unions’ General Secretary S Chandrasekhar told IANS on Sunday.

HAL said it held conciliatory talks to avert the strike and offered to increase allowances under the cafeteria system and revise the rate of fitment benefit at 11%. During the talks, the wage negotiation committee apprised the unions of the ill-effects of resorting to any strike, said the company.

“Despite the management’s concerted efforts towards bringing an amicable/early wage settlement, unions unfortunately have adopted a recalcitrant approach and did not accept the offer and decided to resort to indefinite strike; in spite of management’s appeal not to resort to an indefinite strike and resolve the issue in a spirit of accommodation,” the defence firm said in a statement.

Now, follow and debate the day’s most significant stories on Scroll Exchange.