Labour issues continue to haunt the Indian auto industry.

Just when one thought that troubles at Maruti Suzuki were over, it is now Hero Motocorp which is at the receiving end. In the case of the latter, workers at the company's Gurgaon plant are demanding bigger wage increases and retirement benefits. Talks with the management do not seem to have worked out. And so these workers have decided to go slow on production as a means of protesting. Labour issues took a violent turn at Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plant last year when an employee was killed and several workers went on a rampage. As a result, there was a lockout declared at the plant and production halted. Not surprisingly, this adversely impacted Maruti's overall performance. Hero Motocorp is also bound to bound to suffer in this regard. What has made matters worse is the timing of these issues. The auto industry in the past several quarters has been struggling on account of slowdown in GDP growth, firm interest rates and fuel prices. Thus, a quick resolution to these labour issues has become all the more important.