Bajaj Auto files rejoinder in labour court

The labour court, which is hearing the case of Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) against its striking workers, on Friday, fixed the next date of hearing as August 7.

Judge MS Bodankar perused the rejoinder filed by Bajaj Auto against the say filed by  Dilip Pawar, president of Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sanghatana (VKKS), the union spearheading the Bajaj Auto employees’ strike.

More than 1,500 workers at Bajaj Auto’s Chakan plant put down tools from June 25, demanding shares at concessional rates, reinstatement of their suspended colleagues and additional perks.

Bajaj Auto, in its rejoinder to the say filed by the union, said the company is suffering heavy losses due to the strike. It said the workers’ application should be rejected along with a penalty of Rs1 lakh.

The union, in its say, had denied the management’s claim that the strike was illegal and claimed that it had been demanding allocation of shares for workers since January 19. The say also stated that the labour court had no jurisdiction as contended by BAL to find out the real reason behind the notice of strike or lift the veil. The jurisdiction was vested with the Industrial Tribunal if and when a reference is made by BAL under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, the union claimed.