Refuting claims of the union that the ‘good conduct' letter has clauses that prevent workers from carrying legitimate union activity and blames them for the nine-day lockout from March 15-23, he said about 30 employees were suspended for gross misconduct, threatening the supervisory and technical staff and failing to meet the production targets.
“We were forced to declare lockout after production dropped to 70 percent from 95 percent during the first fortnight of March and due to unrest caused by a section of the workers, raising safety concerns of supervisors, managerial staff and plant machinery,” said Viswanathan.
He also admitted that the parent company (Toyota Motor Corporation) in Japan was sad over the labour unrest in its India car plants.
“Reaction from Japan is one of sadness over the labour unrest in India because we have world class plants, world class workers and technicians and world class management,” Viswanathan noted.
