India’s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki, on Saturday said it rolled out just 150 cars from its plant in the country’s north — a fraction of the usual number — as many workers remained locked out.
Car production at the factory in Manesar was halted on Monday after the Japanese-controlled firm accused some workers of sabotaging production and “deliberately causing quality problems.”
The company normally makes 1,200 vehicles every day at the plant in the northern state of Haryana.
New contract workers have had to be brought in after Maruti demanded that existing employees sign a “good conduct” pledge before being allowed back in.
“The company brought in another batch of 125 ... trained and experienced people” on Saturday, Maruti said in a statement, adding that 800 workers were now available for production.
The Press Trust of India estimated the loss of output suffered by Maruti at 5,625 units so far.
The car maker, which employs about 2,000 people at the Manesar factory, started rolling out cars again on Wednesday after locking workers out in the dispute over alleged sabotage.
The company has suspended at least 26 workers and sacked another 17 on charges of hampering output at the plant. The “good conduct” bond is an assurance from the workers that they will not sabotage production, resort to go-slow tactics or otherwise hamper output, the company said.
Representatives of the workers say the number of people who have signed the pledge is small. The labor dispute is the third to affect production at Maruti in as many months.
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