Is General Motors' Gujarat plant sell off to a Chinese car manufacturer another labour unrest in process?

China’s car maker SAIC HK Ltd’s plan to enter India through acquisition of a General Motors' plant at Halol in Gujarat now involves a some tough terms and conditions, as far as Indian labour sentiment is concerned. After the Competition Commission of India approved of the proposed acquisition on Thursday, SAIC wants General Motors to hand over the plant without workers.

The 650 workers at GM Halol plant has refused to accept the voluntary separation scheme. Last month GM had offered the employees a voluntary separation scheme, which ensured a 75 days’ wages for every completed year of service or part thereof, in excess of six months. As reported by The Mint, these employees will also be entitled to benefits like gratuity and provident fund, leave encashment and bonus.

However most workers in the plant refused and are ready to move the court and reach out to the chief minister of Gujarat for negotiations. One of the major reasons for refusing to such scheme, as told by many employees, is an unattractive package. Most of the employees working in the plant are in the age bracket of 25-35 years.

The talks of the deal had started back in 2015 and would take another month or two to come to a closing. While the deal size isn’t yet known, The Mint reported the deal size to be somewhere about Rs 1,500 crore.

The company had earlier wanted to close the Halol plant but state government had rejected the proposal.