Ford workers protest sacking of colleague in Sanand

Ahmedabad, June 23 (IANS) Scores of workers at the Ford India's facility in Sanand near Ahmedabad on Saturday staged an angry protest against the company management accusing it of "illegally" terminating an employee of the car plant.

It all happened after the company allegedly sacked an employee for, what it called, "inappropriate behaviour" with a woman colleague at the plant.

The Ford workers' union in Sanand organised the protest against the termination at the company gates. While no word came from the company if production was hit at the unit, company sources claimed that the plant was running in a single shift for the time being. Ford manufactures its compact-sedan Aspire at the Sanand facility.

In an official statement on the episode, Ford India stated: "We prefer to keep discussions about our employees confidential and continue to be engaged in discussion with the Union representatives. It is, however, important to note that Ford has zero tolerance for acts of workplace bullying or coercion. As a company, we are committed to providing a safe environment to our workforce and within our right to take disciplinary action after a robust and transparent investigation."

This is not the first time labour unrest hit the Ford India operations. In February this year, over 800 company workers had expressed their protest over a long pending wage settlement and boycotted the meals provided by the company at the factory site.

Earlier last year, as many as 400 employees at its facility in Tamil Nadu's Maraimalai Nagar locked horns with the company management over termination of nine colleagues allegedly for violation of company's code of integrity.