Swc Allies Blast Union
Shaw Wallace Associates Forum, an association of distributors, dealers and suppliers to the liquor major, has come down heavily on the employees federation of the company. The forum alleged that the federation's activities were seriously affecting the companys plans of generating funds by disposing of the non-core businesses and non-performing assets.
The forum has put forward its allegations to the ministry of finance, the Company Law Board (CLB) and to the ministry of industry. It said the present litigation process, started by a section of the employees, has jeopardised the company's operations.
The Maharashtra-based forum said the planned disinvestments have so far failed to yield the desired results and the company continues to be in a debt trap. Moreover, these obstructions have merely caused inordinate delays in debt payments, forcing SWC to restrict its expansion programmes, it said. The surpluses generated by the liquor business have been used for defraying recurrent interest payments. It is believed that the company has paid Rs 60 crore over the last 10 months towards its debt liabilities. According to documents available with Business Standard, the body has alleged that SWC's move to sell off the consumer products division to the German major Henkel, which planned to bring in the much needed foreign investment into West Bengal, was stalled due to litigation by the employees.
As a result, the employees of CPD had lost the opportunity to attract foreign investment and denied SWC of the much-needed cash for repaying debts.
The forum has blamed the federation for ruining the future of 6,500 employees of the 110-year-old company and misguiding them by systematically destroying a healthy business.
In a strong note of objection made to the CLB chairman, the associates' forum has said that the petition made by the SWC Employees Federation was not representative as it had only 299 employees which comprised less than 1 per cent of the total share holding of the company.
The forum, in their note blamed two members, Madhu Sinha and P K Banerjee who had passed their age of superannuation for misleading the employees to safeguard their own personal interests.