Ford factory workers should get better pay

Chennai, September 10 (PTI) Workers at the Chennai plant of US automaker Ford, which pulled out of India, have expressed hope for a positive outcome to the September 13 tripartite talks on the issue a better compensation plan.

Ford management and employees will speak with senior government officials about the compensation package. In September 2021, Ford announced the closure of its factory as well as its withdrawal from the Indian market.

Ford India recently said it was in constant discussion with employee unions over the issue of a “fair and equitable” compensation package. So far, several rounds of talks have been held with the company’s government officials and employees in this regard.

Ford India had blamed unreasonable demands from employee unions for the failure of previous efforts. In this regard, the representatives of Ford India Employees Union claim that the company had not considered the aspect of tax deduction in the compensation package.

A representative of the employees’ union told PTI: “The factory has been closed since August 31 and no workers are present in the factory. Only the sales service and the sale of parts are done there. We are not even allowed to enter. Management asks us to accept the offer.

The company said it would give an average compensation of Rs 41 lakh to each employee as a final offer. She asked employees to accept this package between September 5 and September 23.

Ford management also warned that employees fired for not accepting severance within that time frame will receive 15 days’ severance for each year of service.