A case study of GENERAL MOTORS

Presented to:Ms. N. MalatiFaculty, HOD-MBA DIAS

Presented by:Gurleen Kaur (074)Syed Kamran (098)

General motors: An American multinational automotive

Headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and one of the world’s

largest automaker.

Major brands worldwide : Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Opel, etc.

Started its business in India: 1928

but ceased its operations in 1954.

Re-entered in India in 1994 as a joint venture

owned 50% by Hindustan motors and 50% by General motors.

Operating plants at Halol in Gujarat and Talegaon in

Maharashtra.

Corporate office at Gurgaon and technical office at

Bangalore.

Cont…

The Halol GM factory produces Cruze sedans, Aveo sedans and

the hatchbacks and Tavera and optra vehicles, which are specific

to India.

Total no. of workers: 1600, which includes 800 full time

worker and 800 half-time workers who do same amount of

work but are paid half amount of full time workers

The Halol unit of GMI has a capacity to roll out 190 units daily

with an installed capacity of 85,000 units a year.

The striking workers formed a new union under INTUC

(Indian National Trade Union Congress) and have alleged that

they were subjected to excess workload.

The workers alleged they were facing health hazards

The company has violated PF Act, gratuity norms and rules of

Industrial Safety and Health Act

The workers were also demanding for an equal pay for both the

full-time and the part-time workers.

The company termed the strike illegal.

Working hours at the Halol plant are nine hours a day, six days

a week for a ‘regular’ 54 hour workweek.

Such hours are illegal under India’s Factory Act Legislation,

which limits the regular shift to 8.5 hours.

This means that the workers are owed back wages for the three

hours of overtime they work each week.

The “ Factory Act in India “ places a cap on how much

weight a worker can manually lift, which is set at no higher

than 44 pounds. However, the law places no limit on how

much lifting a worker can be required to complete during their

shift.

Some workers are constantly lifting heavy car doors, tires,

steering columns and other auto parts.

Over 269 GM Halol workers have filed complaints of spinal

cord damage.

GM Factory Management Halol plant created the “GENERAL

MOTORS EMPLOYEES UNION” which has less than 150

workers out of 1600 workers at the factory.

Management then negotiated with its pocket unions to

unilaterally increase the mandatory Daily Unit Production

Goals by 20%.

The strike continued for 42 working days

It caused an estimated production loss of 2500 vehicles to

GMI.

Gujarat Kamdar Mandal Union filed a complaint against GM

with India’s “NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS

COMMISSION” over unfair labour practices and dangerous

health and safety conditions at Halol factory.

The union and the workers also filed a petition in Gujarat High

Court regarding Labour Rights Violation

The striking workers are being threatened with firing,

suspension or relocation to lower level GM facilities.

Management is trying to bring “non-union” replacement

workers- “Scabs” to take the place of the strikers.

The Association of Trade Unions in Gujarat, with 100 trade

unions affiliated, are supporting GM strikers.

The INTUC with more than 8 million members is also

supporting GM strikers.

Over 500 GM strikers marched towards Vadodara and

were detained by the police.

The International Workers Metal Federation is also

standing in soliditarity with GM strikers in India.

Nearly 2000 labor, religious, academics and business leaders

and activists have written to the CEO of General Motors, US

demanding the workers’ legal right to organize a union at Halol

plant in India and improved health and safety conditions.

Some of our suggestions which could help General Motors from

getting rid of this long persisted labour problem at its Halol

facility, Gujarat are:

Wages remained important means for satisfying human wants

and needs. So, wages should be of Primary consideration.

Humans must be treated as a human being, not just as a means

of production tool.

The HR managers must be of humanitarian view rather than

authoritative view.

The challenging jobs must be given to the workers from time to

time to protect and safeguard the interests of the workers and

keep their task interesting.

Labours should not be under-estimated. Human beings have

emotions and that should be respected. And whenever, the

emotions or the self-respect of the workers will be played with,

these strikes will keep on occurring.