The stalemate in the Dunlop factory at Sahagunj seems far from ending. The two major trade unions, Citu and Intuc, declined to sign a bipartite agreement with the management on Thursday.
The unions have decided to ask for a tripartite meeting that includes the state government. “We are writing a letter tomorrow to labour minister Mrinal Bannerjee for a tripartite meeting,” said Dipankar Roy, general secretary of Dunlop Workers’ Union (Citu).
“We have been to the office to discuss the management’s proposal, but no one from the decision-making body was present,” Roy said. Workers have been asking for the state government’s intervention to end the stalemate following the management’s decision to suspend production and the unions’ opposition to a monthly grant of Rs 2,000 offered by the management.
Around 1200 workers of Sahagunj get Rs 4,000 each a month on average as salary. The management decided to cut that down to half a few days back, citing the global financial crisis as the reason. The management had till Thursday to sign the agreement.
The government does not know what to do. It cannot intervene, as there is neither a lockout nor closure in question.
Pawan K Ruia took over the tyre-producing company in 2005 from Manu Chhabria. The average production at the Sahagunj factory was around 17 tonne a day, while the plant at Ambattur in Tamil Nadu has been shut for over a year.
Dunlop has suspended production indefinitely from Monday till it can manage to arrange for a loan of Rs 100 crore.