Renault-Nissan workers’ union sign interim peace deal, to resume shop floor ops soon

Renault Nissan Automotive is a Franco-Japanese car making joint venture near here rolling out Renault and Nissan badged vehicles.

The RNITS has approached the Madras High Court citing non-adherence to the COVID-19 safety protocol while operating the plant. The court on May 31 had asked the company management and the workers’ union to discuss and arrive at a solution in the presence of officials from the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health on June 1.

Accordingly, the management and the union have agreed on Monday to the empty pitch ratio of 3:1 in the trim and chassis and body shop. “Simply put, after three cars in the conveyor belt, one slot will be empty so that a worker need not move to the next workstation to complete his work,” K Balaji Krishnan, President, RNITS said. Queried on slowing down the conveyor belt as a solution Moorthy, General Secretary, RNITS said: “That would involve changing the speed in the entire production process and reallocation of work.”

Moorthy said as per the current agreement the production per hour will be reduced to 30 cars per hour from 40 cars per hour earlier. “We will implement this on a trial basis between June 2 to 5 and take a call on the matter later,” he said.

While the management had demanded good worker attendance across the shop floor during the trial period, the union agreed to instruct the workers to follow the COVID-19 safety protocol as laid down by the state and the central governments.