MADURAI: Staff of the district labour court on Wednesday seized 30 computers and an air conditioner from the premises of Aavin dairy, for failing to clear salary arrears of 20 contract workers totalling Rs 1.16 crore that was pending from 1996-2015, thereby bringing to an end the long drawn legal battle of the workers.
M Subramanian, counsel for the employees who have since retired, told TNIE that Aavin hired 20 people as daily wage labourers in 1987-88. Even after two years, their jobs were not regularised.
In 1988, they submitted petitions to the Aavin management, which they rejected. In 1994, the workers filed a complaint with the labour inspector, who conducted an inquiry and issued three orders to Aavin directing it to regularise their jobs.
Aavin appealed against the order before the Labour Court in Madurai. The court dismissed the appeal and ordered Aavin to make the workers permanent with retrospective effect from 1995. However, Aavin approached the Madras High Court against the order.
In 1998, the high court ruled in favour of the workers. Unwilling to relent, Aavin moved the Supreme Court. In 2008, the apex court ruled in favour of the workers. Aavin filed a review petition but it was rejected.
In 2014, Aavin regularised the services of the workers, but refused to pay salary arrears for 1996 - 2015, said Subramanian adding this prompted another round of legal battle.
The employees moved the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, which directed Aavin to resolve the issue through Labour Court. On February 7, 2026, the court ordered recovery proceedings to be completed by March 7, 2026. On Wednesday, court staff executed the order and shifted the seized assets to the court premises.
TN cooperative society employees union (Madurai) president R Lenin said “Many women recruited between 1987 and 1988 encountered similar challenges while working in harsh conditions. However, they received permanent employment orders in 2014. Only when they reached retirement period, (2015-2017), each employee was paid between Rs 14,000 and Rs 19,000 per month.”
N Vijayalakshmi, one of the affected workers, said “I began working on February 25, 1988, with fixed wages of Rs 11 per day. Aavin refused to pay the salary.”