The Hindu Business Line : Dunlop stops production in Chennai

Production at the Dunlop factory in Chennai has stopped after power supply was cut following a disagreement over the power bill between Dunlop and the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, according to company officials.

According to the official spokesperson, the `stoppage of production' was because the management found the last electricity bill `unreasonable' and appealed for `justification and reduction.' They expect the issue to be resolved in a day or two after which work would restart.

The bill was `in excess of Rs 40 lakh,' they said, but declined to elaborate.

The issue is under appeal with the TNEB. Power supply was cut after Dunlop refused to pay the bill. It was uptodate on its payment to the workers, the spokesperson said.

According to the Dunlop Factory Employees Union representatives, the company has told them that there has been some financial issue that needs to be sorted out. Production was stopped over two weeks ago.

The union said it was concerned that over 300 workers, who were yet to be inducted into service, had not been paid their wages of Rs 65 a day since last month.

On the wages of the other 700 workers who were taken into the factory for production, they said, the wage is usually paid on the tenth of every month and they would wait till November 10. The management has assured them that the discussions were on to sort out the issue and restart production.

The union representatives said the workers had fully cooperated with the management in production and would report for duty once the factory starts operations. The workers had helped refurbish the equipment and had produced over 4,000 tyres after the factory was taken over by the new management.

As more equipment comes on line production would go up - Dunlop here has a capacity to produce about 130 tonnes a day.