Bajaj Auto moves production of Pulsar to Aurangabad factory

Striking workers at Bajaj Auto's Chakan factory have forced the motorcycle maker to shift production of the Pulsar brand of sporty motorcycles to its Aurangabad plant. Trouble has been brewing at Chakan for the past few days with union leader Dilip Pawar, of the Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sanghatana (VKKS), demanding Employee Stock Options (ESOPs) for all workers at Bajaj's Chakan plant in lieu of the yearly increments.  

The union leader, who represents the Union at Bajaj's Akurdi factory has put forth other demands too. Bajaj Auto, for its part contends that the VKKS trade union had scuttled the 9 year pay agreement (signed in 2010) which had assured workers a 12% pay increase each year, and that the union was now demanding another re-negotiation. The union is also demanding the reinstatement of 13 suspended workers.

These workers were suspended by Bajaj Auto for allegedly slowing down production at the Chakan plant, in the run up to the current strike. Bajaj Auto states that the workers cannot be reinstated until the completion of the enquiry. The strike has left Bajaj Auto's Chakan operations crippled. Bajaj produces 80,000 motorcycles each month at Chakan, with the Pulsar, Avenger, KTM and Kawasaki motorcycles being built at this facility.

To avoid production losses, Bajaj has started producing the Pulsar motorcycle at Aurangabad. The Chakan facility, working at a lower capacity will produce Avenger, KTM and Kawasaki motorcycles. On Tuesday, the Chakan facility operated at 40% of its installed capacity of 3,000 units/day, with only a third of Bajaj's 1,500 strong workforce at Chakan reporting to work. Shifting production to the Aurangabad plant will increase the facility's output to 230,000 units/month from the current 150,000 units/month.

Bajaj Auto is said to have deployed additional work force from its Pantnagar plant in Uttarakhand, to Aurangabad in order to increase production. The strike at Chakan comes at a time when Bajaj Auto has just launched the KTM Duke 390, a sharply priced motorcycle making waves in the sportsbike market of the country. The Duke 390 is also exported to many countries across the globe, along with its 125cc and 200cc siblings. For now, it seems that the production stoppage at Chakan will not hit deliveries of these motorcycles as Bajaj is managing to operate at 40% capacity. 

Source BusinessStandard