Workers on Strike at Gabriel Bearing Plant in India

Gabriel India Ltd. (India, publicly traded a division of the Anand Group, India) is facing the end of its first week of a general strike by workers at its Parwanoo engine bearing plant in northern India. eBearing has learned that workers first walked off their jobs on August 7, although we have had no official confirmation as to the specific nature of the grievances. Gabriel India has two divisions. Ride Control Division manufactures shock absorbers, struts and front forks, as a 20%-owned joint venture with Gabriel Corporation (USA). The Engine Bearing Division manufactures thinwall and large size engine bearings in this plant at Parwanoo. The Parwanoo facility, built in 1978 as a joint venture with Federal-Mogul Corporation (USA), was the first in India to have integrated manufacturing for a full range of bimetal bearings, flanges and thrust washers, including manufacturing of powder metal and bimetal strips. Gabriel's Parwanoo plant is a leading engine bearing supplier to India's OEM automotive and replacement markets, as well as to heavywall applications such as rail, marine and power generation equipment. The factory's bearings are also exported to North America, Europe, Singapore and the United Kingdom. Overall, Gabriel claims there are almost 2,300 active engine bearing part numbers in the Parwanoo system, and that the plant produces in the neighborhood of 1.3 million bearings per month. If the sales figures are correct, the strike at Parwanoo has already set back production by at least 350,000 bearings.