industrial relation case

2. Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd is a
subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation of
Japan (with Kirloskar Group as a minority
owner), for the manufacture and sales of
Toyota cars in India.
 Type - Joint venture
 Founded - 6 October 1997
 Chairman - Mr. Naomi Ishii
 Headquarters- Bangalore, Karnataka

3.  TKM had around 2358 employees as on Jan
2006, out of which around 1500 were
members of TKM Employees Union
(TKMEU). TKM had a history of unhealthy
labour relation between the management
and labour right after few years of inception
of its Bidai plant.
 There were two strikes happened in 2001
and one in 2002, which was followed by a
lockout, due to increased shift upto 12 hours.

4. Strike during May 2005:
 Employees demanded a hike in wages as there was
extension of working shifts.
 During the strike fifteen employees were suspended
and three were sacked from the job.
 The management showed the reason for suspension
as misconduct at the workplace and attacking the
supervisor.
 After rigorous clash between management and the
Employees the wages were raised by 15%

5. Strike during Jan 2006:
 As the case of three sacked employees remained
unresolved the other employees again revolted.
 It appeared as a flash strike.
 This made the strike illegal and the following events
happened during the strike.
 400 employees blocked the road
 They threatened to blow LPG cylinders inside the
premises
 They obstructed the outward movement of
manufactured vehicle.
 They stopped the production, which was again
illegal
 They mishandled the other workers who
were a not the part of the strike

6. Factors that led to strike
 Labour unrest at the workplace
 Worker’s unruly and rude behavior
 Senior Official’s strict behavior
 Worker’s indiscipline at workplace and consistent
poor performance
 Increase of work shift to 12 hours from 8 hours
 No hike in wages were announced accordingly
 No bathroom breaks were given during the shift
 Dismissal of the workers on the ground of
misbehavior
 External party (CITU) interference
 These issues evoked a strike.It was followed by a
lockout citing safety concerns by the management

7.  Interference of CITU:- (CITU) was
involved with the TKMEU for all the
activities, after TKMEU was affiliated to the
CITU in 2005. This actually aggravated the
rift between the TKEMU and the
management’s internal decision. The
management also challenged some of the
employees for taking part in unproductive
and wrong works with CITU.
 Negotiation Process:- CITU state
committee constantly supported the
TKMEU representatives. With this support,
members of TKMEU put forward some
demands which were later modified a little
and then fulfilled.

8.  End of CLASH:-After the clash between
the management and TKMEU finally came to
an end, during January 2006, CITU stated that
it would continue to support TKMEU in the
future and also fight with the management
regarding the order suspending the workers
during the strike. On February 05, 2006 Union
members started hunger strike and CITU also
supported this.
The trade union has fulfilled its duty in the
TKM case. It always stayed as a support during
various strikes to make the labour union’s
voice reach the management during the strike

9. On Jan. 09, 2006 the repesentative of TKM,
TKMEU and CITU were asked to present
before DLC(Deputy Labour Commission),
Orderd by STATE GOVERNMENT
Result- .
On 20th Jan. 2006, TKM’s management
lifted the locket

10. Company should take the following actions
to prevent such incidents in the future. They
may be listed as follows:
 As both strike and lockouts are illegal, it should be banned.
 A declaration stating the disciplinary rules and work ethics
at workplace should be taken from the workers before
joining
 There should be a regular meeting happening between the
Worker Union members and management discussing
various issues and grievances of the workers
 Employees could be called in different shifts, in order to
avoid overtime of the employees
 Overtime should not be made mandatory, it should be made
volunteer.
 Overtime should be compensated optimally
 Proper break time, lunch time should be maintained
 If a lockout is prevailing for longer time, the company can
outsource some of its activities, if possible.

11.  In India, labour unions are very strong due to their
affiliation to Central Trade Unions and their
affiliation directly with the political party. In a
country like India, where politicians use their
power and position to gain a huge chunk of vote
share give so much priority to such labour unions
who constitutes the major part of their ballot bank.
 Sometimes, these labour unions grow so strong;
they make management and corporate to bow
their head in front of their demands. This in turn,
sends wrong signals to the companies that were
going to invest in India from outside, as how
unrest and indiscipline the labour force are here
and how they can sometime emerge more

12.  Indian labour laws such as Industrial
Disputes (Amendment) Act, 1947 are the
main legislation that governs the labour
disputes in India. This law has mainly
focused in three areas, such as
 The provision for payment
of compensation to the workman on account
of closure or lay off or retrenchment.
 The procedure for prior permission of
appropriate Government for laying off or
retrenching the workers or closing down
industrial establishments

13.  The procedure for prior permission of appropriate
Government for laying off or retrenching the
workers or closing down industrial establishments
 Unfair labour practices on part of an employer or
a trade union or workers
 While this law mainly focuses on the rights of
employee and responsibility of the employer to
protect the interest of the worker, it talks less about
the code of conduct need to be followed by the
workers, rules and regulations regarding strikes etc.
These are various issues that are needed to be
addressed by the Indian Government so as to keep a
harmony between the management and the workers

14.  Japan, as a country is rich in morals and
values. This is also reflected in their work
behavior and management style.
Traditional Japanese management style
consists of the following main pillars, such
as
 Lifetime employment
 Seniority
 Enterprise Unions

15.  But keeping an eye on the recent developments in
work practices around the globe it has
implemented several changes in the traditional
system in order to go hand in hand with other
countries.
 The lifetime employment policy is amalgamated
with pay cut or hike, performance basis job etc.
 And the enterprise unions, which held a strong
position in traditional management style, had been
diluted very deeply so as to reduce the non-
productivity of the workers and have a control
over them.

16.  This has led to a very effective style of
management. Now they have less human
consideration. They give too much stress on
forcing TPS on employees, rather than taking
their wishes into consideration.
 This has led to creation of a negative image
about Japanese company’s organizational
culture.
 In order to meet to the local demand and work
structure, the global organizations should give
more autonomy to the local units to make their
own HR policies, work practices, other
workplace requirements.

17.  Nissan motors, a Japanese car manufacturer, when
entered India made several policy changes
according to the domestic requirements. Firstly ,
the concept of seniority was discarded and the
incentive system attempted to limit the subjective
evaluation of an employee’s contribution, and
individual performance was given more priority.
 In Canon, lifetime employment is regarded as long
term employment. In this process, employees are
allowed to gradually acquire skills and focus on
long term career after joining the company. The
employees are allowed to build their own career
plan and work accordingly, so that he can grow
and prosper within the company in long term.