The workers and employees of the Birla Tyres, Baleswar unit, affiliated to various trade unions staged a demonstration before the District labour Office (DlO) here on Wednesday evening demanding his intervention into the company’s arbitrary decision of downsizing the manpower.
The DlO has convened a meeting with the company management and trade unions for Saturday to resolve the crisis.
A strong resentment has been brewing among the workers as well as employees ever since the company management initiated the move of downsizing manpower by offering voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) after stalling the Radial Tyre Project a month back.
While many employees have not accepted the company’s maximum retirement offer of Rs9 lakh, some others have rejected the move altoghether.
“After 20 years of service, the company management is verifying our date of birth and educational qualifications. They are doing this to drive away us only,” alleged a worker.
However, a trade union demanded that at least Rs12 lakh be given as VRS compensation.
According o a sources, the company has executed VRS for 336 regular workers and lay off 20 management staffs, including two senior managers, six middle-range managers and 12 junior managers. They were dismissed on the grounds of various reasons, including non-performance.
The Birla Tyres unit had 300 management staffs and 4,000 other employees, including 1,900 regular workers, 700 casual and 1,200 contractual ones.
The dismissed staffs were not given any compensation, said a retrenched manager.
Now, talks have been doing rounds here that the plant has been planned to be sold to another tyre producing giant. The move of downsizing the manpower has started as it is a pre-condition set by the buyer company.