Bosch Workers' Strike Declared Illegal by Government, Management

Bangalore: The Karnataka government has prohibited the 25-day-old indefinite strike by the workers of Bosch Limited's plant here with immediate effect, the company said on Friday while asking them to report to work.

"In a setback to the Union, the state government of Karnataka vide its Order prohibits the strike with immediate effect," the company said.

"The company urges its Union to call off the indefinite illegal strike, report to work and restore normalcy."

The Order has been issued as per Section 10(1) Sub Clause [c]/[d] and Section 10(3) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, Bosch said.

Prior to this declaration, the Labour Commissioner and Additional Labour Commissioner had convened multiple conciliatory meetings between company management and union members, with special interventions of several senior government officials and senior ministers, Bosch said.

"Given the unwillingness and lack of consensus among various factions of the Union, unfortunately, these proceedings did not result in a mutually agreeably resolution," it said.

Bosch said its current offer on the wage negotiation to the union is also one of the best among comparable industries.

However, Mico Employees Association President S Prasanna Kumar told PTI that the government's order to prohibit their strike is illegal because it has not exhausted the legal procedure under the Industrial Disputes Act.

"The government's order is illegal, unfair and favouring the company management. It is illegal because it has not exhausted the legal procedure," he said.

According to prevalent laws, the government should first complete the procedure of conciliatory talks and then proceed with its adjudication, Mr Kumar said.

"The government could have adjudicated after the conciliatory talks had failed. In the event of conciliatory talks failing, the government has powers under sections 10 (3) and 10 (b) of the Industrial Disputes Act to prohibit the strike and issue directions to the management to give monetary relief, respectively," he said.

"The government has taken a decision pending a conciliatory meeting with Labour Minister, which was scheduled on October 3. The meeting in fact was postponed, and it never took place, which means the conciliatory talks remained inconclusive."

Mr Kumar alleged that the order is in favour of the management and urged the government to take pro-workers' decision.

The workers are on an indefinite strike from September 16 seeking resolution for their charter of demands, including wage issues, medical benefits, and on the issue of demand for productivity by the management. The union has claimed that 2,575 permanent workers and 370 temporary workers are part of the strike.