The Growing Incidents of Labour Unrest, Inter-Union Rivalry and Violence: A Case Study of Veicol

Abstract

Productive labor force plays a significant role in contributing to economy of a country. This case is a study is about labor unrest in a major auto component manufacturing unit in south India VEICOL. Liberalization had its impact on this industry and company which adopted major ways to cut costs by deploying contract labor. For almost over more than 2 years there was resentment among workers and the Unions had protested against management’s strategy to employ contract labor. The workers resorted to work stoppages, vandalized company property and resorted to violence resulting in the death of the executive of HR in 2009. This is not a single isolated incident as such incidents have become quite common and this case study is an attempt to focus on this issue and identify potential responses to prevent such incidents in future. Incidents like this will certainly send wrong signals to investors across the globe, especially at a time, when the economy is showing signs of early revival and the country is trying to attract FDI. This unprecedented scenario demands that stakeholders gain a better understanding of the ground situation and make far-reaching changes.