JOIN USCoronavirus outbreak among Bosch workers disrupts assembly line
Over 200 workers in major industrial plants in the city suburbs have been infected with coronavirus, raising questions over the government’s decision to relax the lockdown norms.
The All Indian Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) have said the workers belong to two automotive plants in the Bidadi Industrial Area, an automotive factory and drug manufacturer in Jigani, and a pharma company in Bommasandra.
Following the outbreak, workers and union leaders have raised questions over the state government’s decision to hasten Unlock 1.0 to kickstart economic activities.
“Since the start of Unlock 1.0, manufacturing operations resumed, but only in the past few weeks have we started seeing a spate of infections,” said a spokesperson for Bosch, whose auto parts manufacturing unit in Bidadi is among those hit.
“The result is that the assembly line has been hit,” the company said.
According to knowledgeable sources, the company had 88 cases as of July 3, which has allegedly risen to about 150 as of Tuesday. Bosch declined to elaborate on figures.
A source said the number of cases has been increasing steadily since the first four cases were discovered on June 24. “All four of these workers lived in RR Nagar. They started showing symptoms of the disease and had themselves tested,” the source said. Since then, an average of five to 10 workers has been testing positive daily, after Bosch sanctioned private labs to conduct testing on-site.
While Bosch said that it has not shut the factory, it clarified that a larger chunk of its workforce of 2,200 people had been sent on paid leave. “There is a fear psychosis among the workers, but we would like to stress that the source of the infection is external and not in the plant,” the company said.
A source said 1,700 employees are on paid leave until they can be cleared by testing. About 250 have been allowed to return to work. “Sixteen Covid positive workers have been given a clean bill of health after being discharged from hospital,” the source said, adding that all the factory employees either live in Ramanagara or Bengaluru Urban.
The outbreak at Bosch comes days after similar outbreaks were reported in other major plants, including the Toyota-Kirloskar Motors, after two workers initially tested positive on June 18. Since then, Toyota told DH that it has been attempting to contain the situation.
“The number of infected is currently in double digits. However, the death of a 45-year-old employee prompted a plant closure for sanitisation on Monday,” a company spokesperson said. The company added that its production capacity is currently at 45% (as per government regulations).
Dr Niranjan, Ramanagaram DHO, did not respond to DH’s repeated calls on his mobile.
Employees left with no choice
D A Vijaybhaskar, general secretary, AITUC, blamed the withdrawal of the lockdown for the spike in cases in the city and the surrounding industrial areas of Bengaluru Rural and Ramanagara districts.
“The spread of the infection is expected to accelerate in the next few months. The workforce in the factories are left with no choice in the face of government inaction,” Vijaybhaskar said.