The management notification said that the lockout was with immediate effect. The largescale indiscipline, intimidation and violence resorted to by a section of the workers against senior managers in the company had forced the lockout, the notification said. Tension has been mounting at Apollo Tyres over the past few days following the deadlock in negotiations over a long-term agreement between the management and trade unions. The talks convened by the state labour commissioner here on Thursday failed. This further strained theindustrial relations at the Perambra unit. Following the failure of talks in Thiruvananthapuram, a group of workers gheraoed the company vice-president Sreekumar at Perambra for about six hours. Police later intervened and rescued the vice-president and other senior managers. The gherao of the vice-president was the immediate provocation for the Apollo Tyres management. The management was also vexed over the workers' go-slow agitation demanding immediate settlement of the long-term agreement. This has adversely affected production at Perambra.

According to the management, "thanks to the agitation, production had come to a standstill and therefore there was no option but to lock out the unit". The Perambra unit produces 115 tonnes worth Rs 1 crore per day. Sources in the management said that the workers had resorted to unhealthy practices when talks over the long-term agreement were reaching the final phase. The sources added that a memorandum of understanding had been reached earlier between the managementand trade unions and only the details regarding the long-term agreement had to be worked out. Trade unions alleged that the management was deliberately going slow on the long-term agreement. Trade union sources pointed out that the previous agreement had expired about two years back and fresh agreement was due since November, 1997. Sources in the state government said that the management had, at the talks in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday, insisted that along with the long-term agreement, bonus due to the workers in August also be negotiated and settled simultaneously. This, according to government sources, was not acceptable to the trade unions and hence the deadlock.

Apollo Tyres has four trade unions at the Perambra plant. This is the third lockout at the Perambra plant during the last 20 months. The previous lockout was in April 1998.