Renault Nissan workers to boycott work from May 26
The Renault Nissan Automotive is a joint venture car manufacturing plant of French auto major Renault and Japan's Nissan Motor Company.
Chennai: Unless their safety is ensured at the plant, workers of the Renault Nissan Automotive India have decided to boycott duty from May 26 onwards, the Renault Nissan India Thozhilalar Sangam (RNITS) has said.
The RNITS or the Renault Nissan workers union has put the company management on notice on Monday in a letter by its Joint Secretary T Tamizh Kumaran.
Citing the Madras High Court order which states steps to be take to reduce the footfall in office and factory RNITS said the company has not taken any steps to reduce the footfall in the company’s plant to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The Renault Nissan Automotive is a joint venture car manufacturing plant of French auto major Renault and Japan’s Nissan Motor Company.
“Five workers have died and about 850 have been infected with coronavirus at Renault Nissan Automotive since last year,” K Balaji Krishnan, President RITS, said.
He also said in 2021 alone about 420 employees have tested Covid-19 positive.
“All our workers are young and they are dying. There is no social distance maintained at the factory. We had suggested reducing the number of cars produced per hour. This in turn would reduce the number of workers per workstation. But the management didn’t agree,” Krishnan.
There are about 8,550 workers (about 3,547 technicians, about 2,000 staff, about 2,000 contract workers and about 1,000 apprentices) employed at the Renault Nissan Automotive plant near here.
According to Krishnan, the Union had requested the factory to be closed till the workers are vaccinated or the demand for beds at the hospitals come down.
Though the automobile and the component makers did not function during the March 2020 lockdown, they are allowed to operate with the state government bringing them under the continuous process industries.
“There is the usual health insurance cover for Rs 2,00,000 for workers and their dependents but the coverage is insufficient as the hospital expenses incurred for Covid-19 are very high,” Krishnan added.
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