Operations At 4 B & C Units Suspended

The Best and Crompton management has ordered suspension of operations at its four units in Ambattur for three weeks.

The company workers have approached the state labour joint commissioner against the suspension move. "There was no law and order problem and the management has no cause to close down the units, a labour union source told Business Standard.

Though legally there is a difference between suspension of operations and a lock-out, it amounts to the same for us, the source said. Along with the suspension notice, the management has also listed out the names of employees who are yet to opt for the voluntary retirement scheme offered by the company earlier.

 

The list, it is said, has the names of those workers who were accommodated in the Ambattur plants after the closure of its factories elsewhere in the city about ten years back. By doing so, labour leaders believe, the management is seeking to drive a wedge between workers and divide them into two factions - original employees of the Ambattur plant and those who were absorbed from other units.

Workers who have been absorbed from other units will account for about 25 per cent of the workforce, the source added.

Earlier, it may be recalled, the management wanted to prune the workforce by about 270, but only 140 had opted for the retirement package. The scheme found few takers because it was unattractive. More important, similar packages offered earlier by the company were not paid in time.