Sahaganj plant: Dunlop says unions not keen on bipartite talks

Ailing tyre-maker Dunlop India today said it was unable to reopen the Sahaganj plant as unions are against bipartite talks, while the West Bengal government asserted the company should reopen the unit first.

"Dunlop is unable to implement the reopening proposed by us on October 21. Workers' unions are not willing to hold any meeting with us as they are insisting on a tripartite meeting. We have not received any government nod for it," group Chairman Pawan Ruia said.

"As such the fate of reopening of the Sahagunj factory now rests with the government," he said.

Dunlop, which had announced suspension of work on October 8, had offered to lift the work suspension order in three divisions at its Sahagunj plant in a phased manner, subject to restoration of power.

Ruia said trade unions should have approached the management for a discussion rather than wait for a direction from the government.

"If the discussions failed to find a common ground of understanding, then the government could have intervened," he said.

Ruia argued that the government had to play a proactive role in revitalising the plant as the management had spent over Rs 300 crore to clear old debts when the company was taken over from Manu Chabbria in 2005.

The chairman accepted that the company was yet to clear certain dues of employees.

CITU's Dunlop unit president Santoshree Chatterjee said last week the union had received two letters from the management asking for a meeting. As the government had already intervened, it should now be discussed at a tripartite meeting, he added.

Meanwhile, Labour Minister Purnendu Bose told reporters that "Dunlop has written a letter to the state government alleging that unions are averse to sit with the management for bipartite talks."

The minister said that the government had asked the Dunlop authorities to reopen the factory and that there was need for a tripartite agreement.

Reiterating government's demand for lifting suspension of work at the factory first, Bose said "various government authorities have Rs 30 crore arrears pending from Dunlop for providing electricity and municipal services and the government would like to know what it is going to do about it".

The unions claimed that 328 employees who had retired after 2005 have also not received provident fund and gratuity payments, as also statutory dues of 319 employees who took early retirement.

The company currently employs 870 permanent workers.

According to the proposal from the Dunlop managment, the industrial products division will first be reopened, then the OTR tyre divsion (large tyres) and lastly the tyre divsion after installation of a 50 MW captive power plant.