Initiate suitable prosecution steps against AstraZeneca management, pleads FMRI

The company recently terminated 50 employees

The Federation of Medical Representatives association of India has filed a dispute against the AstraZeneca for terminating employees as per the company's restructuring plan. The FMRI has filed the dispute with the state labour commissioner, Karnataka that suitable prosecution of the management for termination of around 50 employees. Business Standard has reviewed the petition.

The labour commission is yet to give the company and the employees a date to meet for reconciliation.The company, in an e-mail stated, "AstraZeneca is not aware of any dispute being filed by FMRI. We are therefore not in a position to comment on it." Bombay Stock Exchange-listed AstraZeneca Pharma served pink slips to about 50 sales representatives in the month of September in a move that may see the company's strength of 1,200 employees being brought down significantly. AstraZeneca wrote an e-mail to about 50 employees inviting them for a discussion in Bengaluru.

"As a part of the global initiative, in India, we are restructuring our business. We therefore request you to come to Bangalore for a discussion on this matter," the company had told these employees who were called on for a meeting in Bangalore in end of September. During the meeting at its India headquarters in Bengaluru the employees were served the pink slips. In the past two months, 100 employees have been sacked bythe company.

The decision to lay off sales employees comes after the UK-headquartered multi-national company sold its antibiotics business to Pfizer in August. It now wants to focus on three main therapy areas: cardiovascular and metabolicdiseases, respiratory and autoimmunity and oncology.

100 moreAstraZeneca employees may face the axe as the company goes on with itsrestructuring plans. Medical representatives from the company, supported by the FMRI, went on a one-day mass casual leave soon after the company decided to terminate their services. This comes at a time when the erstwhile Ranbaxy medical representatives are at logger heads with Sun Pharmaceuticals on salary issues. The medical representatives have been resisting Sun Pharma's attempts to bring erstwhile Ranbaxy employees under the Sun Pharma banner by rationalising leave structure and attendance system.