It is not always possible to avoid an employee strike in your own company. Misunderstandings and misunderstandings can also lead to this. But also the influence of outside people. 

In this case, the strike developed its own dynamic: around 4.000 employees went on strike at seven locations in the Indian subsidiary.  

At the time of the intervention, the strike had already been raging for 11 months and the Indian locations were decoupled from the European headquarters. The server connection was cut off and the managers had not had access to the plants for a long time. Strikebreakers were threatened and the Indian CFO ended up in hospital with significant injuries. It was simply no longer possible for the parent company to assess the situation.  

In this case, external influence has penetrated into the company: a left-wing extremist and aggressive Leninist-Marxist Trade Union has taken control.  

Joint decision-making by an informal negotiator 

Without influencing the striking workforce and ending the disputes, management at the European headquarters feared far-reaching consequences. In addition to further physical escalations, the destruction of the works and ultimately a termination of activities in India should be avoided. 

A joint decision-making by an emissary should resolve the strike and lead to a sustainable solution.  

Crisis management takes a neutral view 

In an emergency situation there is only one thing that helps: keep a cool head. A neutral, external coordinator can assess the situation without being personally involved. In this case, the following points had to be clarified: 

  • On-site inventory: Are the plants at the seven locations still standing?
  • Exploring Interests: What does the union want to achieve?
  • Examination of external influences: Who is interested in the disputes?
  • Political influences: What do Indian economic ministers and labor commissioners want at the locations?
  • Look for compromises
  • Agreeing on solutions without litigation

A total budget of 7-8 million euros was available to implement all measures. 

In order to make compromises and find solutions, those involved must first be identified and contacted. In addition to the obvious groups of people such as Indian trade unions and political figures, former business partners who fueled the strike in the background were identified. 

As a neutral coordinator and mediator, you always have to keep an eye on all sides. The European headquarters must also be convinced by proposed solutions and compromises. Without skillful communication and a subtle strategy, the implementation of the measures will not be possible.  

Sovereign organization and communication is persuasive

There's no getting around a crisis team on site - you can't always convince someone from a distance. Supported by a European crisis manager on site, a communication link could be established from the Indian locations and unions via the crisis manager to the European headquarters.  

In such cases, one should not shy away from communicating with militant unions. 

Our conclusion after a few weeks

As part of the strike arbitration, a restructuring plan was drawn up: four of the seven Indian plants will be closed, one will be converted into a transfer company and two will continue to operate in a modernized form. Surrounding properties will be sold, developed into a business park and sold to economic development.  

In this case, legal disputes were avoided and the agreement was supported by the union without exception. 

In addition, the time and budget targets were exceeded. Instead of the released 7-8 million euros, 4,8 million were used. 

What have we personally learned?

The opinion in the European headquarters was more difficult than expected. Too many managers wanted to cover up their own failures - an additional hurdle on the road to agreement. But we were able to overcome that too.