Is it ethical on part of carmakers to work during lockdown

Is it right on the part of state government to allow this? Is this "pent-up-demand"real and worth the risk?

BHPian Allterrain recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

When the new Tamil Nadu Government announced statewide lockdown in early May'21, experts felt that it should be a complete lockdown like we had in March-April of 2020. But not surprisingly, it was a watered down version of a lockdown where car factories were allowed to operate under the guise of "Continuous Process Industry" which were exempted! Tier-1 and Tier-2 suppliers are also working as they are suppliers to these "Continuous Process Industries". Car companies (mainly Hyundai and Renault-Nissan) are betting on so called pent-up demand in the coming months.

But things are not cake-walk for car factories. Workers are getting infected and sizeable number of them are dying. They are also risking the health of their family members who are otherwise following all restrictions and rules.
Now labor unions are up in arms and refusing to cooperate. Hyundai management finally succumbed to these pressures and announced closure up to 30th May. It appears that Renault-Nissan trade union has approached the Madras High Court against this working-during-lockdown.

The questions I would like to ask is: Is it ethical on the part of OEMs to work during lockdown? Is it right on the part of state government to allow this? Is this "pent-up-demand"real and worth the risk?

Here's what BHPian Researcher had to say on the matter:

This thought had crossed my mind once last year. But if OEMs are shut, there maybe a few issues:

1. Loss of income for employees: No manufacturing means no sales and no revenue. So employees of both OEMs and suppliers will have to dip into their savings for providing for their families.

2. Unavailability of new vehicles and spares for vehicles that are being run: Especially in the commercial segment, there has been a dependency on goods delivery and many truckers have continued their business as usual. Getting spares will be an issue in case manufacturing is stopped. Also due to the pandemic, many had to buy their own vehicles to solve their public transportation woes and risks, which will not be possible if there is no production. However, they should optimise their numbers, as there has been a majority of the months in last year when the production has surpassed registration.

3. Competition: Why will Maruti risk losing numbers when Hyundai is not stopping production? Manufacturers compete with each other and will definitely not spare any market share if others are not budging.

But I strongly feel that many of these deaths could have probably been avoided if we all had been careful. I have seen people being offended when you ask them to properly wear the mask or maintain social distancing.

Also people are used to a certain way of working. One cannot expect a person who has been working in a particular way for 10 years to change and adapt to a new mask+distance way overnight. Mistakes are bound to happen, and sadly the price is very high these days.

All we can do is accept our mistakes and correct them, which seems to hurt the ego of most people I have interacted with in this pandemic since more than a year.

Here's what BHPian Mr.Boss had to say on the matter:

Ethical? Absolutely not, if we consider car as luxury. But in this pandemic situation, clean & safe private transportation is need of the hour.

Apart from the ethics and need of the hour, after all they do business and anything and everything is fair in love, war & business. Renault Nissan could have shut the plant if this was a year ago. Today, Nissan has got the final opportunity to sustain in the market with Magnite. With the waiting period of 6+ months, plant shutdown will make them lose the market again.

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

Absolutely not! Lockdown means only 'essential services' and building cars isn't one. I completely agree with all the workers who protested at Renault-Nissan & Hyundai. The poor workers are simply forced to come to work or face the music. When you live in an almost hand-to-mouth existence, refusing your employer's instructions is not an option.

The OEMs should show more responsibility. I am currently in a hospital accompanying a family member who is admitted for 5 days, and there is no way I would do this if it weren't critical. Despite being at the best hospital in Bombay (Breach Candy) which is following the strictest protocols, I accept that the Covid risk is too high from the many daily interactions. It is just 0930 hours and I have already had 20 people (doctors, nurses & hospital staff only) visit our room since dawn.

Here's what BHPian vigsom had to say on the matter:

There is no way an automotive assembly line can come anywhere close to "continuous process". However, here are a few points that I have to put across.

1. Having spent most of my life in manufacturing, and being on the job even during the infamous pneumonic plague in 1994 and two bouts of floods, I can say that all this noise created by employees is unwarranted.

2.What is important is to keep the wheel churning, but with all due precautions, like , say, operating the unit with 50% staff, with all due precautions in place. It will be interesting to see if employees are willing to see their units shut, and forego their pay for that period.

3. Think about it - hospital staff don't say they won't work, neither do shopkeepers or other service providers. NDRF does not shy away from relief operations in the most challenging situations, and nor do the forces. The show must go on, although with adequate precautions. Yes, these are tough times, and risks are high, but shying away from work isn't the solution. Essential or non-essential services- threat to loss of life in the pandemic is the same.

4. Look around and one would see that the number of people who adhere to safety protocols in Covid is less than 10%. I was in TN twice, for extended periods over the last eight months, and all I saw was zero compliance to basic Covid protocols; same story almost everywhere.

Here's what BHPian aravind.anand had to say on the matter:

I too work for an automobile manufacturer. And what bugs me the most is, despite being in the design team with a laptop and round the clock virtual availability, many of us are being forced to come to the factory just so that bosses feel safe that there is a team available at the plant 'if' something goes wrong.

And since the design teams work on cars that will come to production sometime later, it is not as if we not being available will affect the sales of the company this month. But car manufacturers prefer to hold the launch time-lines, rather than compassion or humanity closer to their hearts. And that, is not ethical!

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.