ROURKELA: On path to gradual revival, Bisra Stone Lime Company Ltd (BSLC) at Birmitrapur in Sundargarh district has received a fresh jolt due to the ongoing labour unrest which has disrupted production in its mines for six consecutive days till Tuesday.
Staging agitation over three main demands, BSLC workers under the banner of Joint Forum of Trade Unions (JFTU) have completely stopped production and dispatch of dolomite and limestone from January 9.
The JFTU, comprising the Gangpur Labour Union (GLU), Birmitrapur Mazdoor Manch (BMM) and Khani Mazdoor Sangh (KMS), is demanding revision of wages of workers pending from 2012. The JFTU wants pay fixation for workers as per the 1997 revised scale in line with BSLC officers according to the CPSE/PSU guidelines. It further seeks an immediate stop to re-engagement of retired officers on contract basis to lessen financial burden on the PSU mining company and setting up of a cement plant.
Sources said after prolonged negotiations failed between the company management and JFTU, the issue was dragged to the office of the regional labour commissioner (RLC), Central. After the RLC failed in its reconciliation effort to convince the warring parties, the JFTU served agitation notice and launched demonstration from January 3. The agitators later intensified the protest to stop mining operations from January 9.
Sources said at a time when the BLSC is on revival mode, the agitation has come as a blow for the company. After continuous losses over several years along with abrupt closures, the BSLC, a subsidiary of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), had achieved net profit of around Rs 6.91 crore in 2020-21, Rs 7.9 crore in 2021-22, Rs 11 crore in 2022-23 and Rs 13 crore in 2023-24.
After returning to profit zone from 2020-21 onwards, the company till the start of 2024 had reduced pending salary dues of 22 months to 16 months and also cleared old gratuity dues of around Rs 6 crore. However, the company net negative worth stands at about Rs 120 crore.
General secretary of GLU Sandeep Mishra, BMM president George Tirkey and KMS general secretary Rabindra Tiwari said the demands of workers are genuine. A healthy work environment remains key for growth of the company. The management should address the pending wage revision issue and ensure setting up of a cement plant using the BSLC’s abundant and cheap limestone to create economic and job opportunities, they added.
Currently, BSLC’s 80 per cent revenue comes from raising and selling dolomite to steel industries and the rest 20 per cent from sale of limestone. The current dispatch is just one-fifth of the potential of BSLC’s. The company has environment clearance (EC) for enhancing production to 5.26 MTPA of dolomite and limestone. Its mines are estimated to have reserves of about 287 million tonne of dolomite and 367 million tonne of limestone.