Bajaj Auto labour union president Dilip Pawar’s indefinite hunger strike entered the second day on Tuesday. Workers affiliated to the Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sanghatana also boycotted breakfast and lunch at the company canteen on Monday and Tuesday. Pawar wrote to Bajaj Auto chairman Rahul Bajaj seeking his intervention to resolve pending issues of wage revision settlement, termination of eight workers in 2013 and transfer of six workers in 2016. Pawar said they opted for this form of Gandhian protest out of helplessness and frustration. The Bajaj Auto chairman has in an e-mail response to Pawar called his indefinite hunger strike as unfortunate. “None of us would like you or any of our employees to go on a hunger strike. This is avoidable,” the Bajaj Auto chairman said.
Bajaj said he has been the non-executive chairman of Bajaj Auto since 2005 and was not involved in the day-to-day functioning of the company, as this was the responsibility of the MD and his team. Bajaj said he had forwarded Pawar’s mail to MD Rajiv Bajaj and ED Pradeep Shrivastava, and he was sure they would do the needful keeping in mind the interests of both the workmen and the company.
The VKS union president urged the senior Bajaj to use his experience and maturity to resolve the issue amicably.
