[APWSLMembers 145] Strike shuts Toyota Indian plant

[Oidon]

BBC NEWS http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4594494.stm

      Strike shuts Toyota Indian plant

      Japanese carmaker Toyota has shut down a factory in Bangalore,
India, because of a strike by workers who want three sacked colleagues
to be reinstated.
      The strike is in its third day and started after three workers
were dismissed on disciplinary grounds.

      Toyota runs the plant, which makes Corolla and Camry cars, with
its partner, Indian firm Kirloskar Group.

      Company and union officials will meet on Monday after workers
demonstrated outside the plant over the weekend.

      Reports estimated that as many as 400 workers blocked the road to
the factory on Saturday.

      'Restore normalcy'

      "We were forced to declare a lockout because the safety of our
officers and machines was threatened by the striking employees," said AR
Shankar, general manager of Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts.



            AR Shankar, Toyota Kirloskar

      "We would like to restore normalcy as soon as possible, but at the
same time we would not like to compromise on discipline," he said.

      Toyota is not the first Japanese firm to experience problems with
its Indian workforce.

      Last year, police clashed with workers from Honda's Indian scooter
division, costing the firm millions of dollars in lost production.

      Toyota's southern Indian plant can produce about 60,000 vehicles a
year.

      Workers began the strike on Friday, and the company said it was
unsure what would happen in coming days.

      "We don't know which direction the events are set to take and it
is a tense moment for the company," Mr Shankar said.