People Engagement

Maruti Suzuki is back! After being hit by incessant strikes last year and suffering big blows on car sales last year, Maruti Suzuki seems to be back in reckoning after claiming the top three car brands positions this year, in terms of sales this year. The top three car brands by sales in India (2012) are Maruti Alto, Maruti Swift and Maruti Wagon R. Wagon R has pushed Hyundai i10 to number four position. Maruti is now expecting its news Dzire to razzmatazz the competitors even more. So what turnaround the company’s fortunes? Diesel version of Swift, Wagon R? Possibly…but that could have happened last year as well. That did not happen because the production was halted several times at its Manesar plant, in the northern part of the country, due to strikes. Infact Maruti had to ultimately shift some of its Swift Diesel production to its Gurgaon plant. The bookings of the diesel versions at the dealers were running into long pending list and things were hardly working for the company....

Can signing a good conduct undertaking be a guarantee of good conduct by employees? Maruti Suzuki's strike at Manesar plant has reached a flash-point where both the management and workers seem to be unrelenting on the issue of the 'good conduct bond'. The management is adamant that the workers have to sign the bond and the workers refuse to do so. The problems at Manesar plant came to surface few months back when workers at Manesar plant went on strike demanding a separate union then the existing one at the Gurgaon plant, which they alleged to be a management's union. the strike which lasted 13 days resulted in a huge loss for the company. Presently too the losses are accumulating. The Swift(diesel) bookings have been reportedly stopped by the dealers as the existing booking's delivery date shall stretch up to April 2012. And with car sales dipping, the company can ill-afford the small sliver-lining in the form of demand for diesel cars. Anyways, coming-back to ...

Earlier this month, the nearly 200-member strong union in Chile launched Starbucks' first strike at company-owned stores, seeking pay that keeps up with inflation, a $100 monthly lunch stipend, as well as other benefits. The Seattle-based company operates roughly 17,000 cafes in more than 50 countries around the world. The vast majority of its cafes are not unionized.Union workers account for roughly 30 percent of Starbucks' overall work force of nearly 700 in Chile. Despite the strike, the Starbucks' cafes  have remained open in the country. Starbucks maintains that its pay and other compensation in Chile -- which includes stock awards, merit increases and comprehensive health coverage for full- and part-time workers -- is "above and beyond" what is offered by the coffee chain's peers in that market. However as per reports , a Starbucks Corp executive sent a memo to company leaders late on Tuesday, saying the company would welcome back strikin...