Pune: In a mass layoff, General Motors (GMIPL), one of the leading automobile exporters in India has informed the Maharashtra Labour department that it has ‘fired’ 1,419 employees from April 16 this year, at its Talegaon plant in Pune. In a letter, it said, “The workers are entitled to lay off compensation under Rule 31.08 of the certified Standing Order of General Motors India Pvt. Ltd. and Section 25 C of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.”

With extended restrictions prevalent around the country and economies being hampered for months since the pandemic, companies have faced a loss of revenue, burned their cash on fixed costs and employees and have had to resort to all means of cost-cutting.

In an email, the automobile company has sent a lay-off notice to its 1,419 employees and a copy of the same was provided to the President and Secretary of the General Motors Employees Union. In the statement, the company has stated that the employees will receive lay off compensation under Section 25-C of the Industrial Dispute Act 1947. According to multiple reports, the copy was displayed at the gate of the factory. The notice read, “Since the lay-off has been declared largely because of Covid-19, being a natural calamity, no prior permission from the appropriate authority has been sought, nor is the same necessary under section 25-M of the ID Act.”

The factory in Pune’s Talegaon is General Motors’ only factory in the country, which is utilised for exporting their cars from to other countries. However, the production was stopped at this factory from last year (December 2020). From four years, General Motors has suspended their sales in India and only exported cars from their two factories Halol in Gujarat and Talegaon in Pune.