Change of production norms by Toyota affecting workers' health, alleges TKMEU

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Employees Union (TKMEU) on Thursday alleged that the management of Toyota Kirloskar has been changing the production norms without any study and consultation with the recognised trade union. This has affected the health of the workers -- both mental and physical -- the Union said.

The Union has also alleged that the management of Toyota was not serious in resolving the issue through proper study of the workload of the workers and settled in the larger interest of the workers and the industry. The TKMEU has also urged the government to intervene immediately and resolve the issue.

"It is necessary to state that the management and the Union have signed the settlement on December 9, 2016, which has determined the number of working hours and working days in 2017, 2018 and 2019. This settlement has been followed in 2020. However, this settlement does not prescribe the workload or work norms. There is no such settlement either. The management has been changing the workload on the higher side without conducting any scientific study and discussion," Prasanna Kumar, President, TKMEU told reporters on Thursday. TKMEU has the support of 3,500 workers in the Toyota car factory.

Further, the management has restricted the movement of workers so much that it has become difficult even to attend nature calls, TKMEU said in its statement.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor has declared lockout in the car manufacturing factory at Bidadi from November 23 onwards for the second time. It had earlier imposed a lockout on November 10 and lifted it on November 19 after the state government prohibited it along with the strike by employees.

Despite several representations, the management has not responded. The Union has also approached the Factory Inspectorate and Labour Authority. But the management has not shown any inclination in resolving the issue, he said.

"All our consistent efforts since 2019 were to get the issue of workload resolved through negotiations and conciliation. Unable to put up with ever-increasing harassment at workplaces, the workers expressed their anguish on November 9, 2020, for a brief period. The matter was made worse by the management by placing 40 workmen under suspension," Kumar said.

The workers did not go on strike, but the management itself declared duty-off to workers in the second shift and thereafter declared the first lock-out on November 10.

The workers were ready to report to work. But the management did not allow them to report on the flimsy ground that they reported late, he said.

"The management has been insisting on workers to sign an undertaking to commit to give required production and maintain discipline both inside and outside the factory premises. This has resulted in the present stalemate as workers do not know what is the required production," Kumar said.

He said the workers want the workload issue and the suspension of 40 workers, including the Office Bearers and Executive Committee Members, be revoked. "The workers and
Union are prepared for a long drawn conflict as much as they are open for negotiations," he added.

Toyota clarification

Responding to the workers' allegation, the TKM management clarified that the suspension of a worker pending enquiry is neither a punishment nor a loss of a job but a standard legal measure to ensure free and fair enquiry of the misconduct of an employee by a third party enquiry officer.

During this period, the concerned employee is eligible to receive legally designated subsistence allowances which is a portion of his salary.

Upon completion of the enquiry, the concerned employee, if found not guilty under principles of natural justice, is entitled to report back to duty and is entitled to full terms and conditions that come along with the position. The employee will also receive the differential amount of his salary upon the completion of the enquiry and if not found guilty, the company said in its statement.