COIMBATORE: Most of the 285 Tasmac outlets in Coimbatore district remained closed or opened with a delay of nearly three hours on Monday as the employees staged a sit-in at the office of the Senior Regional Manager (SRM) on Monday.
The sit-in was called to protest the directive to issue suspension orders against employees protesting against the implementation of the buy-back empty bottle system.
Initially, over 250 employees gathered at the SRM office around 11 am and submitted a petition to R Govindarasu, Senior Regional Manager of Coimbatore Region.
The employees opposed the directive that requires shop staff to collect empty bottles directly from customers when they come to return them. They demanded that the management outsource the collection process instead of burdening the outlet employees.
Tension escalated when the SRM reportedly instructed the District Managers of Coimbatore South and North to issue suspension orders against the protesting employees in their presence.
Angered by the directive, the employees immediately began a sit-in protest and raised slogans against the management. Following this, employees affiliated to nine unions except the LPF union affiliated to DMK refused to open the Tasmac outlets across the district at 12 noon. Only a few outlets were opened by LPF-affiliated staff.
The protesters belonged to nine trade unions, including CITU, ATP, AITUC and others. They appeared under the banner of the Joint Action Committee of Tasmac Employees Unions.
After the protest, senior Tasmac officials held talks with union representatives. The officials assured them that they would personally visit the outlets, review the ground situation, and submit a detailed report to the Managing Director in Chennai.
The employees called off their protest around 3 pm and resumed work on receiving this assurance. The employees warned that thy would go on mass leave for two days on April 29 and 30 if the management fails to resolve the issue related to the buy-back bottle scheme.