The Hindu Business Line : Nellimarla jute mill lockout to be lifted

The management of the Nellimarla jute mill in Vizianagaram district has agreed to lift the lockout, in force for the past 204 days, and an agreement was signed here in the early hours of Wednesday.

Mr M.S.N. Rau, Additional Labour Commissioner, who conducted the conciliation proceedings, said the management had agreed to reopen the mill and each worker would give an additional recoverable loan of Rs 8 per day from the date of commercial production apart from the existing loan of Rs 10 per day.

The existing loan of Rs 10 per day would continue for one year more. The continuance of the total loan of Rs 18 per day per worker would be for a period of one year and after 10 months from the date of reopening of the factory an extension would be considered. The management agreed to pay gratuity to the retired employees, at the rate of one worker per day, from the date of commercial production. The disbursement of gratuity would be undertaken once in a month and the modalities would be discussed and decided by the management and the workers within a month.

Union agreed

The union agreed to the norm of "no work no pay" during the lockout period. Both the management and the union agreed to abide by the revival package to be announced by the BIFR and both would have the right to represent their views on the matter.

Mr M.V. Rao, CEO of the mill, Mr C.K. Jain, Senior General Manager, and Mr Prasad, President of the union affiliated to the Indian Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), and Mr B. Sankara Rao, General Secretary of the union, participated in the lengthy negotiations which began on Tuesday and continued into the early hours of Wednesday.

The mill will be reopened on Thursday, but the commercial production will take sometime (seven or 10 days) more as maintenance works will have to be carried out.

The reopening of the mill is politically significant as the by-election to the Bobbili Lok Sabha constituency in Vizianagaram district is being held on December 4. The union exerted enormous pressure on the ruling Congress party to get the mill reopened.

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