Nokia Union plans to boycott canteen from Monday

Trainees opt for retirement scheme offered by the company

Workers at the Nokia India factory in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, has decided to boycott canteen as protest against the management approach in relation to their job uncertainity. According to sources, over 700 of the trainees who has been working with the facility opted for the retirement scheme offered by the company.

According to M Saravanakumar, president of the Nokia India Employees Union, the workers in the facility would boycott the factory canteen from Monday, to mark their protest to the uncertainity over the job security in the Chennai facility, which has been caught in tax dispute between the company management and the country's tax authority.

However, the union is not planning to stop manufacturing or affect the workflow. Kumar alleged that while the factory is seized by the income tax authority and the tranfser of the facility to Microsoft as per the deal is still uncertain, the management is not addressing the concerns of the employees.

"We are worried of the situation. The management is not giving us proper reply on the fate of the factory or the job security of the workers," said Kumar. There are around 8,000 employees under direct employment in the facility where as around 21,000 are employed indirectly for the company in Sriperumbudur.

Meanwhile, sources inform that almost all the over 700 trainees are resigning from the company, accepting the retirement option offered by the company. According to the union sources, the package offered by the company for trainees include three month gross salary along with Rs 2 lakh as compensation.

While the company has announced for Voluntary Retirement Scheme, the Union has said that it will not take the offer and the employees need job security.

The fate of the facility and the employment of the thousands of employees remains uncertain, as the Indian Courts and Tax Departments have attached Nokia India's assets, including Sriperumbudur factory, against a Rs 21,000 crore alleged tax evasion case. Recently the Tamil Nadu Government slammed a Rs 2,400 crore tax notice on the company.