The Otis Elevators Employees Union (OEEU) is a
trade union of
elevator installers and repairers at the
Otis
Otis may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Characters
* Otis (Superman), in the films ''Superman'' and ''Superman II'' and related DC Comics media
** Otis Graves, in the TV series ''Supergirl''
* Otis (The Walking Dead), Otis (''The Walking Dead' ...
company's
Indian subsidiary in
Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
state. OEEU was founded in 1961 and is affiliated with the
Centre of Indian Trade Unions
Centre of Indian Trade Unions, CITU is a National level Trade Union in India and its trade union wing is a spearhead of the Indian Trade Union Movement. The Centre of Indian Trade Unions is today one of biggest assemblies of workers and classe ...
.
History
The OEEU was founded in 1961.
Throughout the 1980s, the
Mumbai committee of OEEU had grown increasingly close with Otis management, until a group of militant young workers won the union elections in 1990.
In 1991, an increase in workplace accidents led to workers giving press interviews and forming an India-wide federation. In response, Otis stopped the payment of some wages and filed charges against workers.
In 1992, an Otis trainee died on the job due to orders to violate workplace safety protocols. OEEU organised protests in response, forcing the company to permanently take on 98
temporary workers and to stop their recruitment for permanent jobs. This had been a problem for several years at that point. In that year, Otis signed a bargaining agreement with rival union
Bharatiya Kamgar Sena (BKS), giving management free hand. On February 2, 1994, BKS members attacked protesting workers inside the factory, after which Otis
locked out
Lock(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
*Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance
*Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal
Arts and entertainment
* ''Lock ...
all workers not willing to accept the bargaining agreement until the end of 1994. During the lockout, Otis increasingly employed unskilled contract workers to service maintenance contracts, leading to several accidents, including a fatal one, in 1994. During this time, OEEU organised temporary workers and workers coming from Mumbai's outskirts.
In 1998, two Otis workers died on the job in separate incidents in Mumbai. This led to a public discussion about the lack of safety training for contract workers at the company and an investigation by
Lokhshahi Hakk Sanghatana, which demanded that company management should be prosecuted for their negligence.
In another report from 2001, the organisation found that five Otis subcontractors had died on the job over the preceding two years.
References
{{Trade unions in India navbox
Trade unions in India
Centre of Indian Trade Unions
Otis Worldwide