Labour strike at Royal Enfield impacts production of 28,000 motorcycles

Chennai-based Royal Enfield's ongoing labour woes at one of its three plants are over. The company, which witnessed disruption in production on the back of an employee union striking work on September 24, 2018 at its Oragadam facility, Chennai, is now running smoothly. The worker strike has now ended after a period of  50 days. 

The entire workforce at Royal Enfield’s Oragadam facility reported to work today, bringing an end to the strike, effective November 13, 2018.  The company says with this development all its three plants (Chennai, Oragadam and Vallam Vadagal) are now operational at their full capacity. The bikemaker has a total estimated manufacturing capacity of 825,000 motorcycles.   

From September 24, 2018, a part of the workforce at Royal Enfield’s manufacturing facility at Oragadam had stayed away from work  as the employees union had asked for settlement of their demands that included a pay increase.

The company says, nevertheless, a majority of its workforce at Oragadam did continue to report to work and was actively engaged in operations. During this time, its manufacturing facilities at Tiruvottiyur and Vallam Vadagal continued to operate and deliver to their full capacity. The company estimates the loss of production to be around 28,000 motorcycles during the period of strike.

In a statement released today, Royal Enfield said it “is deeply committed to maintaining and furthering cordial relations with its workforce. And will continue to maintain the highest standards of conduct and discipline, teamwork and respect for each other.”

In September 2018, Royal Enfield produced 63,715 units (-9.17%) and in October 2018, 60,115 units (-6.93%). For the April-October 2018 period, the company has produced a total of 502,432 units (+9.47%). Cumulative domestic market sales for the seven-month period comprise 494,849 units (+10.49%) and exports of 11,065 units (+10.22%).

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