Strike at Apollo Tyres' Vadodara plant ends

Apollo Tyres today said it has signed an agreement with striking workers for resumption of normal production at its Vadodara plant, bringing to an end 17 days of labour unrest at the unit.

"Apollo Tyres today announced the resumption of normal operations at its plant in Limda, near Vadodara, Gujarat," the company said in a statement.

Yesterday, the Gujarat government had declared the strike illegal that had broke out on October 23, when a section of the workers in the cross ply section went on strike demanding recognition of a fourth union at the plant.

At present, only three unions are recognised at the plant.

"At a meeting post this the workers agreed to resume normal production, while discussions with management would continue. An agreement to this effect was signed in the presence of the State Labour Commissioner today by representatives of the management and the agitating workers," the statement said.

The company, however, said the labour unrest had minimal impact on sales as tyres were made available from existing inventories and some specific sizes were also compensated by additional production in other plants in the country.

It has, however, not shared the total loss incurred so far due to the strike.

Apollo Tyres Chairman Onkar S Kanwar had yesterday said the firm was incurring a production loss of up to Rs 5 crore per day at the Vadodara plant due to the labour unrest.
 
About half of the 1,500 employees in the cross ply section were on strike. They had formed a new union, which is affiliated to BJP's labour wing -– Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh.

The Vadodara unit of the company has an installed production capacity to roll out over 300 tonnes of cross ply tyres every day. After the strike broke out last month, the
company was producing 33 per cent of its capacity.