Dunlop sends over 2K staff on temporary leave
TIMES NEWS NETWORK Sahagunj (Hooghly): Hit hard by the fin a n c i a l slowdown, Dunlop India on Monday asked all 1,171 permanent employees at its Sahagunj unit and 917 staffers at Ambattur "not to report for work'' from Tuesday for an indefinite period. CITU—known to fight tooth and nail against retrenchment—apparently approved the decision after the Dunlop management called the CITUled worker's union representatives for a meeting on Sunday evening. What's strange about the order is that it is an 'informal directive'. Neither suspension of work, which mandates a notice period, nor a lay-off, that requires the management to pay the basic and a portion of the dearness allowance. During this idle period, when employees stay at home, the Dunlop management will pay each of them a monthly allowance to support their families. Company CMD Pawan Kumar Ruia said: "The tyre market is facing a slump due to the global meltdown, forcing us to take the decision. The Tatas have left Singur. We do not want to ruin our chances by operating the factory now. We could have announced a shutdown. But we didn't take that route. Instead, we are working on a revival package and have asked the workers to stay away for the time being.'' Ruia is not seeking any assistance from the state government. But workers grew furious when union secretary Dipankar Roy broke the news to the morning shift on Monday. They feel it is retrenchment, no less. Roy's assurances were of no help. "The management has told us that it is no longer possible to continue production and we will have to close down. We have been assured that this is a temporary phase,'' Roy said, adding that it was not compulsory for everyone to sign the agreement. "What we could do is to ensure a monthly allowance of Rs 2,000 for Sahagunj workers, against the Rs 1,500 for those in Ambattur,'' Roy said. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""GLOBAL SPECULATORS"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalspeculators?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
