SALEM: The sudden closure of Talema Electronics (India) Private Limited in Salem on July 31 has left 430 workers jobless, throwing hundreds of families into uncertainty.
The company, which manufactured electronic spare parts such as flight spare, scanning machines, had operated in Salem for over three decades. Many employees had spent more than 20-25 years with the unit.
Workers said the shutdown came without prior notice or negotiations, and the management has not held any talks so far. Around 140 employees have been staging a continuous sit-in protest inside the factory for the past two weeks, demanding the reopening of the unit.
Speaking to TNIE, one worker who had been with the company for 25 years said, "This is too tough for us. Our livelihoods have been shattered overnight, and families are struggling to cope."
A Senbagaraman, Assistant Commissioner of Labour Department, Salem, said the company had submitted a notice of closure, but the government had rejected it. "Despite this, the management proceeded under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016, and shut down operations," he said.
He added that pending dues to workers have been cleared, but decisions about reopening or employment now fall under the jurisdiction of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
The IBC allows companies in financial distress to restructure or liquidate under NCLT supervision, temporarily overriding normal labour and industrial dispute processes. This means that the Talema workers can approach NCLT to seek remedies regarding employment or reopening of the factory.
Visiting the protest site on Sunday, Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi chief T Velmurugan extended his support to the protesting employees and assured them that he would take up the issue with Chief Minister M K Stalin and the state's Industries Department.