India government asks Toyota, union to restore factory operations

An Indian state government has ordered Japan's Toyotaand its union to restore operations at its two Indian factories after a protracted paydispute halted work, the company said.The demand comes after unionised employees refused to return to work at twoplants near the southern city of Bangalore, despite an end to an eight-day companylock out last month over the pay dispute.Workers and the company's management have been at loggerheads over pay issuesat the factories in Karnataka state, which they have been negotiating for 10 months. "The government of Karnataka, in order to maintain industrial peace and harmony,has issued an order asking the company and the union to restore normalcy inoperations, immediately," the Indian unit of the world's biggest carmaker said in astatement late Saturday.The Bangalore complex normally produces some 310,000 cars annually, includingthe flagship Camry sedan, the Corolla, and the Prius hybrid, mostly for the Indianmarket.The statement said all outstanding issues had been now "referred for adjudication"without elaborating further.The company said last month it had recently started "limited production" with thehelp of non-unionised workers and supervisors.The carmaker has been insisting that workers sign a good conduct pledge beforereturning to work, a condition that was rejected by the union.Union workers and Karnataka government officials could not be reached on Sundayfor comment.Toyota's plant problems come in the wake of other, sometimes violent, labourdisturbances at Indian car factories in recent years.In 2012, workers at India's top carmaker by sales, Japan's Suzuki Motor's unit MarutiSuzuki India, went on a rampage, killing one executive and injuring over 100 othersin a row over pay and working conditions.