Renault Nissan ordered to pay Rs 70.84 cr as interim relief to workers

Chennai: The 3,542 workers of Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Ltd will get an interim relief pending wage settlement as per the orders of the retired Madras High Court Judge P. Jyothimani, the arbitrator.

The total outgo for the company as interim relief will be Rs 70.84 crore.

As per the order, each of the 3,542 workers of Renault Nissan Automotive will be paid an interim relief of Rs 10,000/month for the period between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2020 and Rs 5,000/month between April 1, 2020 and July 31, 2021.

The company was ordered to pay the wage arrears in three equated monthly instalments to the workers starting October this year.

The workers had demanded an interim relief of Rs 20,000/month while the company had offered a lump sum of Rs 100,000 to each of the 3,542 workers, which amounted to Rs 35.42 crore.

The earlier wage agreement between the workers represented by Renault Nissan India Thozhilalar Sangam (RNITS) and the company management ended on March 31, 2019.

This is the first time an industrial dispute in a multinational company has gone for arbitration under the Section 10A of the Industrial Disputes Act 1947 in this part of the country, a union official had told IANS.

Renault Nissan Automotive India is the car production joint venture between French company Renault and Japan’s Nissan Motor Company.

The arbitrator will decide on the 53 demands raised both by RNITS (38 demands) and Renault Nissan Automotive management (15 demands).