Industry in shock on Pricol VP’s murder

Chennai: The brutal murder of vice president HR Roy George at Pricol by sacked workers has shocked corporate India. The police has arrested twelve members of the All-India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) in connection with the murder.

According to Roy George's relative Saral J George, rogue elements stormed into his office on Monday at around noon and hit him fatally on his head. A skull surgery was performed and he was put on life support but he passed away at around 1:30 pm on Tuesday.

Company officials say the union had workers with Naxalite sympathies who suddenly stopped production. When the company asked them to resume production, they refused. The company then sacked 43 workers who later became responsible for Roy's death.

Employers' bodies like CII, Employers' Federation of Southern India (EFSI) and also trade unions such as CITU, AITUC, INTUC, HMS and the ruling DMK's labour wing, LPF have condemned the incident and say they want the government to ban unlawful outfits like CPI-ML which is responsible for the growing incidents of violence in the state.

Spokesmen of the industry say that the increasing number of disputes in major companies is also due to the fight among the unions to show their supremacy to represent workers.

He said the DMK's labour wing is aware of the pro active steps taken by the State Government to attract more investments and generate jobs. The investors are also aware of the availability of skilled labour and industrial peace in the state. But this type of brutal incident will send a wrong message to all the people.''