HM lay-off plan stymied

For the 12,000-odd employees of the 50-year-old Uttarpara works of Hindustan Motors Ltd, it is an ordeal they have never undergone in the past. The company, starved of orders for its Ambassador cars, had proposed a three-day week work schedule and lay-off of workers, but the Marxist-led West Bengal government had rejected the proposal.

Later the management approached the Calcutta High Court with a writ petition challenging the state government's order. The court directed the government and the employees' unions, which had opposed the writ petition, to file affidavits, and kept the matter for hearing on 12 February 1999. The employees have not been paid their wages for the last three months. The stalemate continues, and the management has made yet another proposal to the state government to retrench a part of the workforce in the unit.

The monthly production of cars has fallen from about 2,300 units to 1,100 units since October 1998. The company also reported a net loss of Rs 10.94 crore for the third quarter up to 31 December 1998. The management contends that if the government had accepted its request for a three-day-week work schedule and lay-off, the company would have saved Rs 32 lakh per week.

The company has spent Rs 503 crore on modernisation and expansion. Of this, a sum of Rs 320 crore has come from financial institutions. Of this invesement, Rs 75 crore have been used to modernise the Uttapara works.

The majority CITU-led union of the plant, however, feels that the matter can be sorted out only through tripartite talks. The state CITU general secretary, Mr Chittabrata Mazumdar, said there was still scope for the unions, the management and the government to sit together to sort out issues in the larger interests of the survival of the company. The union does not blame the management for the present crisis. It says the real culprit is the new economic policies introduced by the central government.

The union has not resorted to any "direct action". It explains it stand: "To go in for a strike now would be tantamount to giving a handle to the management." Meanwhile, nearly 700 employees of the company have opted for a voluntary retirement scheme introduced by the company.

Another automotive company, Ashok Leyland Ltd, which also tried to reduce the work week (with pay cuts) at its Ennore plant in Tamil Nadu, by enforcing a three-day lay-off since 1 September 1998, has restored five-day week from 31 December 1998. The company, which employs 6,800 workmen in the plant, had been given permission by the Tamil Nadu government for the lay-off and payment of 50 per cent compensation to the workmen for the lay-off period.