Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Jan 10, 2006
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Jan 10, 2006 |
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Corporate
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Trade & Labour Unions Practices `inhuman'; no says company Our Bureau
Bangalore , Jan. 9 THE Toyota Production System, which has become a benchmark for the global automobile industry, has drawn flak from some of its workers who claim that certain of its practices are "inhuman." "This practice of timing us for assembling the vehicle in the shortest time possible has led to spinal cord injuries among workers and some of them have even got asthma. It is totally an inhuman practice," a suspended worker, Deepak, told Business Line. He said Toyota expects each vehicle to roll out of the assembly line every four minutes. "Even a slight delay leads to show-cause notice. They drive us extremely hard to finish the job in a limited time," he said. He said supervisors use stopwatches to time the roll out. He claimed that the management expects 110 vehicles to roll out of the assembly in each shift of eight hours. "It is physically impossible to adhere to such rigid norms," he said. Toyota's plant near Bangalore is one of the few among its global operations, which is not fully automated. `Not much physical strain': But a company spokesperson said that the job carried out by the workers was repetitive and hence there was not much physical strain involved. "We can't afford to have sick or injured workers manning the assembly line. Why should we drive our worker so hard that he becomes useless for us," he said. The spokesperson said whenever they find that a particular worker cannot carry out such work, he is shifted to another job. He said that it is unimaginable to think that a practice, which has become a global benchmark for production, is anti-worker. "After all, it is the workers who have made it a success," he pointed out.
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