Toyota shuts India plants over pay dispute

Two factories near Bangalore shut as company and union officials fail to agree on new labour contract.

Japan - Toyota
The Indian plants manufacture about 310,000 units annually [Reuters]

Toyota has suspended production at its two Indian auto assembly plants in response to alleged threats against management and “deliberate” assembly-line stoppages, as efforts to hammer out a labour deal failed.

Company and union officials had been trying to sign a new contract for the past 10 months, with the local government helping mediate negotiations.

“In the meantime, under the instigation of the union, certain sections of the employees have resorted to deliberate stoppages of the production line, abuse and threatening of supervisors thereby continuously disrupting business for the past 25 days,” Toyota said in Monday’s statement.

“All these unlawful activities have been detailed in the lock-out notice.

With this background, the company is left with no other option but to declare a lock-out of the premises to ensure the safety of its workers and management personnel,” it added.

A Tokyo-based company spokesman said Toyota hoped to restart production quickly. But he could not give a timeline for any re-opening of the plants, which make a range of models including the flagship Camry sedan, the Corolla and the Prius hybrid.

The two factories, near the city of Bangalore, produce about 310,000 units annually, Toyota said. The fresh strife comes as Japan looks to boost ties with India to counter-balance China’s growing influence in the region.

Source: AFP