Toyota indefinitely shut down its parts factory in this southern Indian city after workers went on strike to protest the dismissal of three employees, an executive at the company said Monday.
Workers began the strike Jan. 6 demanding the three dismissed employees of the factory, jointly owned by the Toyota Motor Corp. and India's Kirloskar Group, be reinstated, said A.R. Shankar, the general manager of Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts Ltd., the joint venture that directly runs the plant.
"We were forced to declare a lockout because the safety of our officers and machines was threatened by the striking employees," he told The Associated Press.
A few hundreds workers reportedly protested outside the factory Saturday.
The company and union representing the workers were to resume negotiations this afternoon with the state's labor commissioner mediating the talks, he said.
"We hope we will be able to lift the lookout in the near future, but we really don''t know for sure," Shankar said. "We don''t know which direction the events are set to take and it is a tense moment for the company."
Union officials were not immediately available for comment, but had scheduled a news conference for later Monday.
Shankar said the three workers were "dismissed on disciplinary grounds," but did not elaborate.
Toyota sources manual transmissions from Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts Ltd., which has the capacity to make 160,000 units a year.
India has in recent years emerged as a hub for low-cost manufacturing of automobiles and auto parts. Companies like South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. and Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp. are increasing production of small cars at Indian facilities to meet export demand.