GM Plant Workers Unhappy, Seek Better Separation Deal

General Motors, the American automobile manufacturer, which has been planning to shut down its plant at Talegaon, Maharashtra, is facing resistance from its employees. The workers are not pleased with the final settlement offer that GM has made them, and hence, wish to negotiate further. Currently, the separation scheme has taken into account the number of years served by the employees, whereas the Union wants the package to take into account the years of service remaining for the workers.

Earlier this year, the employees had filed a petition mentioning how the Company had put up a notice stating that the “legal entity” of the organisation was being sold to Great Wall Motors (GWM), with no proper clarification on what exactly the term “legal entity” implied, with the sole motive of earning profits out of the deal.

The GM Employees’ Union (GMEU) feels that since there is no guarantee of the workers being employed by GWM, which is buying the Talegaon plant, GM should be offering them a better deal, including health and life insurance, and other benefits that will secure the future of the employees’ families. Most of the workers have at least 20 years of service left.

As per the present calculation, the average package works out to about Rs 20 lakhs per employee for those who have about 10 years left in the Company.

However, GM maintains that it is not in a position to improve the offer and that it will withdraw the same. On an average, it has offered an amount equivalent to three years and seven months’ salary as separation amount. Only 10 union members and 120 non-members have accepted the offer within the deadline. That means, the majority of the workers had refused to accept the offer.