NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, OCT 1
Ford India, which had announced its exit from India’s automobile market last year, completed negotiations on the ‘severance settlement package’ with the employees of its Tamil Nadu manufacturing plant on Saturday.
By settling the compensation package of the employees who will be laid off next month, the subsidiary of the US carmaker Ford would be able to move ahead as per its ‘restructuring exercise.’
The office bearers of the Chennai Ford Employees Union received an updated settlement agreement from Ford India Transformation Officer Balasundaram Radhakrishnan, according to the company statement.
- The company will also pay an additional bonus of one month of gross wages to employees who will complete the exit process by 14 October
- The final settlement package will provide around 62 months’ salary to each employee
“The severance settlement agreement, signed between Ford and the Union today (Friday) is an important milestone and a win-win for everyone involved. I thank the team at Ford as well as the Chennai Ford Employees Union for negotiating in good faith and arriving at a settlement outcome that keeps the best interest of employees,” Radhakrishnan said.
The company will also pay an additional bonus of one month of gross wages to employees who will complete the exit process by 14 October.
The final settlement package will provide around 62 months’ salary to each employee (49 months to a maximum of 9 years 108 months). This will provide them with a proper financial cushion and time to plan their future.
The company has notified the last day of all the employees’ jobs to be as 30 September. Moreover, the company has also been notified about its next steps of exit.
The company rolled out the last car formally produced at the Maraimalai Nagar facility in July. The manufacturing plant had been running in the area for more than 25 years.
It is worth noting, that the company announced to stop its vehicle production at its two plants in India, ie Sanand in Gujarat and Maraimalai Nagar near Chennai in Tamil Nadu. After the announcement, the workers staged a protest for better pay.
The company has also kept its plan of beginning EV manufacturing in India on hold. Notably, Ford has already received approval from the Indian government on this.
