Workers at riot-hit Indian plant win 75% pay hike

India's top carmaker Maruti said Wednesday it has given workers at a plant where employees went on a deadly rampage a 75 percent pay hike as it seeks to mend labour relations.

Workers at the Manesar plant will see their monthly pay and allowances climb by about 18,000 rupees ($336) over three years, making them among the top-earning factory workers in the country. The wage increase along with rises in transport and other allowances makes the deal work out to "an increase of 75 percent", said a spokesman for Maruti Suzuki, majority-owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp.

A permanent worker's monthly pay packet now averages about 25,000 rupees, said the spokesman for Maruti, which is key to the fortunes of its Japanese parent, contributing close to a third of Suzuki's profit.

While wages had been increased, "labour costs will continue to make up 2.4 to 2.5 percent of total sales... it is in our business plan," said the spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with company policy.

The wage hike comes after workers in July chased supervisors at the plant with iron rods, killing a personnel manager and injuring close to 100 other managers.

The riot, unprecedented in the company's three-decade history, saw India's leading carmaker by sales lock out workers for a month at the plant and cost Maruti some $250 million in lost production.

Workers' representatives had said unhappiness over wages and working conditions led to the riot along with use of lower-paid contract workers. Maruti has already said it is shifting to use of permanent workers.

The employees will also get other benefits such as interest-free loans and better health benefits, the Maruti spokesman told AFP.

AFP