"Union power yields collective bargaining agreements", 19 January 2022

For Shramik Ekta Mahasangh, 2022 was a year of successful struggles. Factory-level unions signed collective bargaining agreements with multinational companies (MNCs) that manufacture technological products used in several industries like electronics, automotive, power generation, healthcare, agricultural machinery, and oil and gas.

The agreement negotiated with Avery Dennison...increased workers' wages by INR29,400 (US$360). With...Hoerbiger, the wage raise was INR27,660 (US$339).

Workers negotiated hard to include health check-ups, medical claims, leave allowances, shift allowances, performance bonuses, yearly increments, retirement benefits, canteen facilities, children’s education, skill training and trade union rights in the collective bargaining agreements.

Union successfully bargained with...Wartsila, that workers must be allowed to take a short leave for an hour, during working hours for emergency union meetings that cannot be held after official factory working hours. The company will also allocate a desktop at a common place for union work.

Korean multinational, Myung Sung, agreed to provide educational assistance for workers’ children. Brembo Brakes India, a subsidiary of Italian company Brembo, agreed to include unions in the process of introducing new technology or modernization of plants.

Apoorva Kaiwar, IndustriALL south Asia regional secretary, says:

“IndustriALL congratulates the unions and Shramik Ekta Mahasangh for having successfully signed the collective bargaining agreements. The agreements show that healthy industrial relations are very much needed to advance workers’ rights."