There are about 124 employees in the locked-out unit. VIP has an aggregate employee strength of about 2,400 in factories at Nasik, Sinnar,and Nagpur.The unit, which is under lockout, contributes about 10 per cent of the annual gross sales of the company and it is in the business of manufacturing soft luggage.

Blowplast managing director Sanjiv Aga says: "We are a 27 years-old-company and hence there have been times when there have been skirmishes with the employees, but for a long time we had peaceful relations at the five units."

The trouble that led to lockout started brewing from 1996 when the agreement with the union expired. Even before thesettlement expired the management started talking with the union on four main issues: wage settlement, dearness allowance, tenure of the settlement and productivity.

In April 1997, the company put down in writing a comprehensive agreement offering a four-figure increase and set standards for productivity.

Subsequently, two rival unions at the unit started to jack up their demands respectively in order to compete for the workers' favour. Then on June 1 according to Aga, there was a collective sabotage of the factory equipment after which there was no way to keep the unit running when the equipment itself was under threat.

Meanwhile, the management has started alternative sourcing arrangements to meet the luggage demand and arrangements have already been made by the company since it also has other manufacturing units at Nashik, Nagpur, and Sinnar. Meanwhile the management feels that the effect of the aforesaid events at Jalgaon on the overall operation and performance company as a whole will only bemarginal.