Work at the plant of South Korean steel company, POSCO, in Maharashtra, was disrupted by protestors who agitated outside the plant, asking for their demands to be met. However, an agreement has been reached by the Company and the local protestors with the intervention of the deputy chief minister of Maharshtra, who met both parties.
The protestors had been demanding that locals be preferred over outsiders for jobs at the plant. They also demanded that wages be raised and the temporary workers be absorbed by the Company as permanent staff. Yet another demand was that local companies should be preferred for the transport needs of the plant and also local vendors be used for other services and for sale of scrap.
With the protestors blocking the entrance of the plant, POSCO’s production and shipments to companies, such as Kia Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors had been stopped since the beginning of March. Given that POSCO supplies cold rolled steel sheets (CR), to car manufacturers, there has naturally been a significant shortage in supply of auto parts and components to many companies.
Now that POSCO has committed to try and give preference to locals once the existing work contracts expire, operations are expected to be restored to normalcy soon. However, the demand for wage increments has not been fulfilled yet.
