INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
contract workers hard.Murali, a contract worker at its Ennore plant outside Chennai, which is shut for sixteen working is shattered
For September he would get just around Rs 4,000 salary against his regular salary of Rs 13,000
This amount would be enough just for his house rent
With a ten month old baby and his young wife to take care, he has moved both of them to his in-laws place so her parents would take good
"Even with my full Rs 13,000 salary I can't run my family
In this situation with just six or seven thousand I can't manage," Murali told TheIndianSubcontinent.At the Chennai plant alone there are
around three thousand contract workers like Murali who work on "no work no wages" basis.Not far away from the factory Suresh, a permanent
worker's salary is already cut by around Rs 8,000 under the sixth day system.The company he says is contemplating cutting some allowances
He has two school going children to take care of
With a huge dent on his monthly budget his wife Udhayarekha has already taken some favourites off her menu to make ends meet.Suresh says "We
reduce taking our children to films or parks
We buy only one pack of milk instead of two
We have only one side dish instead of two
We've cut non vegetarian meals to once a week from twice
This month we have only eight days of work, sixteen days leave
We are scared about next month".However workers say Ashok Leyland could compensate workers better
Jayaraman, president of the Contract Workers Association add "The company made Rs 1,983 crore profit last year
So what's the crisis tell me?
They want to keep their profits intact for themselves and their shareholders but squeeze workers".Ashok Leyland's combined sale declined
by 50 per cent in August with a total sale of 8,296 vehicles against 16,628 vehicles sold in August last year.Hit by demonetization, GST and
migration to Bharat VI emission standards from next year and the new thrust towards electric vehicles, the commercial vehicles sector has
witnessed a 54 per cent dip in sales
Only 51,897 vehicles were sold in August against 84,668 same period last year
In a statement Ashok Leyland had called its action "To safeguard company's interest".The industry wants cut in 28 per cent GST and easy
loans.Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman blamed it on millennials who don't buy cars
She said "The GST council will take a decision
We've considered other suggestions from auto sector".Already more than three lakh workers in auto industry have lost jobs according to the
Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers Association.With no improvement in automobile sale even three weeks after the finance minister's
intervention the crisis is now hitting hard those working for auto majors
The industry wants more from the government, really fast so there the upcoming festive season could spur growth.Get Breaking news, live
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