Information is sketchy. Journalism is at a tabloid level and biased against the employees. I try to find the latest news and it is days old. Here is my present understanding;
Employees formed a union about 5 months ago. the company didn't react, things were fine, then two guys who represented the union got fired. Shortly thereafter, 120 employees were fired, or terminated, or let go without cause. A strike ensued, with employees sitting and lying down on company property for a week or so.
The government advised employees to go back to work, and they did. Strike over. Then the company said everyone had to turn over their phones to company security to go to work. People did not trust security and countered with a request for secure lockers to put their phones in. Company said no. Strike resumed.
Yamaha is on strike too. There are other strikes, and hunger strikes, and many hundreds of people have been jailed at Oragadam. Here is the latest I found by simply googling "Royal Enfield strike Oragadam";
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/royal-enfield-employees-restart-strike/articleshow/66048590.cms It appears the entire Oragadam area is experiencing labor unrest. One fun fact I found in all this; There is a law that engineers with 6 years experience must be paid a minimum of 30,000 rupees a month. That's $406.00 Royal Enfield was said to be paying around 12,500 rupees, or about $170.00 That's for engineers with 6 years experience. So I read on the internet. Who really knows, but even if they are paying the full legal minimum, it aint much.
I just would like to know that RE is treating their employees fairly, so I can test ride with a clear conscience. I also feel the same for Triumph, who built my Bonneville in Thailand. I tried to find information on that facility before buying the bike but there was almost nothing about it on the web. The dealer doesn't even want to admit where they are built. It's all kept very quiet.