Employees of Royal Enfield, Yamaha at city plant on strike

Employees of iconic bike manufacturer Royal Enfield and Japan-headquartered Yamaha are on strike, pressing for various demands, including recognition to employees' unions, sources said Tuesday.

While workers of Royal Enfield are on a sit-in protest for the second day at the company premises, employees of India Yamaha Motor, subsidiary of Japan-headquartered Yamaha Motor Corp, are on the fifth day of their stir at Oragadam, about 45 kms from Chennai.

According to CITU, the employees of India Yamaha Motor are on protest, demanding reinstatement of some of their colleagues who were dismissed and also wage increments.

Along with Royal Enfield and India Yamaha Motor, a section of employees belonging to Myoung Shin Automotive India are also on strike, seeking recognition of their union.

"Around 750 employees are on protest at the Yamaha factory. Today we staged a protest near the Yamaha's facility, pressing for our demands", CITU sources told PTI.

India Yamaha Motor began its operation here in March 2015 with an initial capacity of 4.50 lakh units. The cmopany produces scooters, including Ray Z, RayZR, Alpha and motorcycles Saluto and Saluto RX.

Employees of Royal Enfield are staging a sit-in protest inside the premises, seeking recognition of their Union.

"There is a meeting with the Labour Commissioner. We are expecting the management to respond to our demand", CITU sources said.

Meanwhile, Royal Enfield, responding to a query from PTI, expressed hope of arriving at a mutually beneficial solution.

"At Oragadam today, a majority of associate engineers are fully engaged in performing their roles. Some of them did not report for work though they were present in the facility", the company said.

"We have forums that address matters related to the well being of workmen and are working to understand the issue that compelled a few workmen to refrain from reporting for work today. We are hopeful of arriving at a mutually beneficial solution", it said.

Royal Enfield has invested about Rs 350 crore for the Oragadam facility and produces several models from the unit.

Employees resorting to strikes in Oragadam, considered the industrial belt of the state, is not something new

Similar protests wee held when handset maker Nokia's facility at Sriperumbudur was closed as the unit was left out of the USD 7.2billion deal Microsoft inked with Nokia in 2014.

Workers of various companies at Oragadam, including Sanmina and Apollo Tyres, have also resorted to protests in the past, pressing for various demands.