THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:The state government will take all steps necessary to end the impasse at Synthite Industries Ltd, but the stand adopted by the company management also needs correction, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed the Assembly on Monday.“No management should have adopted such a stance in modern times,” he said, replying to an adjournment motion moved by the Opposition on the labour dispute.
The transfers made by the management were in revenge against the formation of the CITU-backed trade union. The existing union in the company, in reality, was more of an “association” than a full-fledged union promoted by a central trade union.“Trade unions are formed not to destroy an industry but to protect workers’ interests,” Pinarayi said.Calling Industries Minister A C Moideen’s stand on the issue “unfortunate”, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala demanded the Chief Minister’s intervention to end the shutdown.Such issues should be nipped in the bud, he said.
The Opposition, he said, was opting against a walk-out on the issue. The state and the Assembly should not send across a wrong message to potential investors, he said.Under the LDF Government, net losses of PSUs have shot up from `2,568.01 crore in 2015-16 to `4,459.64 crore, Chennithala said.Only three industries have logged profits, but that owes more to fluctuations in the international market, he added.
V P Sajeendran MLA had moved the adjournment motion alleging that the CITU union was being aided by the police in preventing workers from entering the company.The Kerala Investment Promotion and Facilitation Act introduced by the LDF Government to promote ease of doing business was irrelevant, he said.A C Moideen accused the company management of being stubborn. The management had gone against the agreement reached at the meeting convened by the Labour Commissioner.
“At one point, they even asked why a new union should be formed when they already have one. That is not practical in Kerala,” Moideen said, adding that the government’s stand was that the company should be reopened. The dispute, he said, will not affect the industrial climate of the state.
Not against trade union; transfers necessary, says Synthite
Kochi: The management of Synthite Ltd has responded strongly to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s statement in the Assembly that the company’s adamant stance was coming in the way of settling the labour dispute at the Kadayiruppu plant. Viju Jacob, managing director of Synthite Ltd, said the state should create an environment for its employees to get back to work. “We are not against trade unions, it’s just that SIEU’s demand to withdraw transfer of our staffers is totally unacceptable. Transfers are necessary for the functioning of the company, a practice which has been in existence since 1985,” he said. Jacob said the 18 staffers transferred were part of a team that operated the equipment moved to their Coimbatore plant recently. “The specific machinery was moved to Coimbatore as the high humidity levels were rendering them ineffective in Kerala conditions,” said Jacob. The management’s repeated requests for police protection fell on deaf ears as the SIEU continued to block people from entering the factory on Monday.
