By IANS
Mumbai : The management of Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) and workers of its recently closed plant at Akurdi have agreed to meet again this week in Pune to resolve the stalemate over its closure.
The meeting between both sides at Mumbai Saturday evening, mediated by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, ended inconclusively as both sides refused to dilute their stands.
BAL chairman Rahul Bajaj and his son, BAL managing director Rajiv Bajaj, were present in the meeting with the representatives of the Bharatiya Kamdar Sena (BKS), to which the BAL workers’ union is affiliated. Besides Pawar, Maharashtra labour minister Ganesh Naik was present.
The plant near Pune, which used to roll out over 3,000 two-wheelers every month, was closed a week ago, leaving more than 2,700 workers to face an uncertain future.
BAL gave the workers three options. Firstly, any worker wanting to continue working with BAL would be employed with BAL’s all-India dealers. Secondly, the workers’ children who have technical diplomas would be employed at the company’s Chakan plant near Pune. Lastly, workers can be given a voluntary retirement scheme option.
BKS has rejected the proposals. “We are going to fight the battle legally. We will be fighting on the basis of our unity. In case they (the management) offer a compromise, the only option for them is to reopen the gates for all the workers and nothing short of that,” BKS president Suryakant Mahadik told IANS.
Pawar is MP from the Baramati constituency near Pune, where most of the workers reside. He has requested both parties to look into each other’s proposals.