The Hindu Business Line : Toyota management, workers' union to meet on Thursday

TKM declared a partial lockout at its plant near Bangalore on Sunday after talks between the workers and the management over taking back three dismissed employees broke down.

A workers' union representative said that the workers who had assembled at the Labour Commissioner's office will stay back till the management comes down to hold the talks.

But a statement from the company said that there were about 25 cases of assault both inside and outside the factory.

It said the security in-charge's car was also attacked on Sunday evening.

"Under these circumstances, we have been constrained from not attending the conciliation proceedings today (Monday)," the statement said.

It said that the strike was illegal as the workers' union had not given 14 days' notice as per the Industrial Disputes Act since the company has been notified as Public Utility Service by the State Government.

It said the three dismissals have been imposed for misconducts unrelated to the issue before the Additional Labour Tribunal. Therefore Section 33(1) (b) is not applicable to these cases as wrongly claimed by the union. The present dismissals are covered under Section 33 (2)(b) of the Industrial Disputes Act and the Management has complied all statutory requirements under Section 33 (2)(b), the company said in a statement.

Later, a TKM spokesperson told Business Line that the company has lost up to Rs 9 crore since production was stopped indefinitely. The company spokesperson said that the dismissed workers cannot be taken back because of disciplinary grounds. "We will not compromise on discipline. We are efficient because we are disciplined," he said.

The management was planning to restore production as soon as possible. The company has a stock of around 500 vehicles, which should last a few more days. There was also a possibility that the small car project of the company could get delayed because of the strike, he said.

Dismissal `illegal': The All-India Vice-President and Karnataka State General Secretary for Centre of Indian Trade Unions, Mr V.J.K. Nair, told newspersons that the decision of the company to dismiss the employees without seeking express permission under Section 33 (1) (b) of the Industrial Disputes Act was illegal.

"Hence the workers had no other option but to go on strike," Mr Nair said. He said the State Government should set up a court of enquiry to solve the dispute.

So far, Toyota has dismissed three employees and suspended 15 workers on disciplinary grounds. One of the workers who was suspended earlier has been taken back.