The Hindu Business Line : Bajaj workers keep their cool with yoga

Pune, Dec. 17 It has been six weeks since 1,650 daily-rated workers, barred from entering the gates of Bajaj Auto Ltd’s facility at Akurdi for 65 days, re-entered the factory premises.

But the restoration of their right to punch in and report to duty — following hectic parleys between the BAL management and political stalwarts — has led to the development of a totally unprecedented situation.

As per the temporary compromise solution drawn up, they have been turning-up, all 1,650 of them, for the first shift, on the dot of 6.20 a.m.

They all make their way to the company canteen for subsidised breakfast and tea, and then assemble at what was once a gigantic store for two-wheeler spare parts for eight hours of, well, shooting the breeze.

“We have to punch-in at 6.30 a.m. Many of us skip the tea and snacks, and start the day with an hour of yoga,” says Shivaji Sanas, adding that the exercise helped him and his contemporaries keep calm in what is clearly a stressful situation.

In the hours that follow, there is a group that follows this up with devotional discourses and music (kirtans), while others choose to watch television, play carom or cards, read newspapers or simply stretch-out and indulge in the luxury of a mid-day snooze.

There is lunch at the canteen at 10.30 and tea is served twice at the shop-floor, till its pack-up at 3.30 p.m. Such a relaxed routine with the promise of a Rs 11,000-odd pay-check (before applicable deductions) at the end of the month might seem like the good life for some.

But Avinash Ghule provides a glimpse of the other side of all-pay-and-no-work.

“My application for a housing loan had been sanctioned. But the moment news broke that BAL had stopped production at Akurdi, it was cancelled,” he says, explaining that the (loan) company was not willing to take a risk in a situation it considered fraught with uncertainty.

According to other workers, even sister organisation Bajaj Auto Finance Ltd has subtly conveyed to them that they would do well to avoid applying for loans for the moment.

Given the virtual freeze on hiring of blue-collar workers imposed at BAL since 1987, the majority of those affected by the stoppage of two-wheeler production at Akurdi are between 45 and 50 years of age. Their typical gross earnings (computed at six days per week) are between Rs 10,500 and Rs 11,000 per month, and a new wage agreement due in March 2007 has been indefinitely mothballed.

The current situation comes on the heels of the BAL management’s decision to stop two-wheeler production at its Akurdi plant from September 1, citing high taxes and octroi as a reason.

Of the 2750 workers here, 1650 were told that they need not come to work, but would get paid their wages till the retirement age of 60.

These workers were allowed to enter from November 7, but despite several rounds of talks between the workers unions and the management, the stalemate continues with no immediate solution in sight.