Philips Union Gives Strike Call

The Peico Workers' Union has called for the two-day strike in protest against the non-implementation of a charter of demands it has made.

The central demands appear to be hikes in basic salaries and dearness allowance for workers at the company's Salt Lake Electronics Complex set up by the West Bengal government.

The strike call also follows almost immediately the sellout of Philips stake in its telecom subsidiary, Philips Telecom, as well as that of the West Bengal government, to a United Kingdom-based venture capital fund, Cinven.

The new company is called Simoco International and is headed by Anton Abraham, former chief executive of Modi-Telstra.

It is believed that Philips management has already informed the West Bengal government its displeasure over the labour trouble at its electronics unit.

Union sources confirmed on Tuesday that the strike was on, even though it was open to negotiations on the subject.

We have been making these demands for a long time and they have not been met despite repeated representations. So we are resorting to the strike, the source said.

The sources also suspect that Calcutta may become less important for Philips India, once the brand new facility now coming up at Kota in Rajasthan, at an estimated cost of Rs 350 crore is fully implemented.

It is believed that the Dutch multinational is importing extremely hi-tech equipment for that unit from Europe, which would be able to produce in bulk.

The union believes this may obviate the necessity for large-scale operations in Calcutta.

The multinational is going through a significant restructuring process worldwide, where it is drastically pruning costs by reducing investment and exposure in high cost, low-efficiency units.

It is expected to cut 6,000 jobs worldwide this year and shift out some of its sound and vision division's manufacturing units to lower cost venues.