Aurobindo Employees Rip Raise
March 20th, 2013 // 3:55 pm @ jmpickett
Tomorrow – The Quality Manager Gets Fired and the $125,000 Compliance SNAFU
At least one generic drugmaker has found yet another way to mimic brand-name drugmakers – an alleged failure to pay promised wages and a resulting protest by employees. Aurobindo had purportedly committed to raising salaries for its workers by March 15, but only delivered one-sixth of what had been expected and, as a result, 2,000 employees – or roughly 90 percent of the staff – have boycotted their workplace, The Hindu reports.
The Centre of Indian Trade Unions complains that Aurobindo is earning large profits by exporting bulk drugs, but is ignoring the welfare of its workers and also violating labor laws by designating employees as outsourcing staff. They also charged the drugmaker boosted transportation and canteen reimbursements, instead of revising the salaries in line with the hike in prices of essential commodities. We asked Aurobindo for comment and will update you accordingly.
Labor disputes are nothing new, of course, but the protest is yet another sign of the evolving Indian pharmaceutical industry. As domestic generic drugmakers widen their global influence and, consequently, ring more registers, they are likely to encounter an increasing number of such reactions by employees. Of course, this would also pressure their bottom lines and, perhaps, have an effect on the pricing of their medicines. This sets generic drugmakers up for an irony – producing low-cost meds often for poor populations, while their employees complain of unfair wages.
