The Hindu Business Line : Lockout continues at Kochi Apollo Tyres unit

Kochi/New Delhi, Aug. 18 The lockout at the Apollo Tyres factory at Perambra in Kerala is continuing and so far no date has been fixed for talks between the Labour Commissioner, the management and workers.

The dialogue could probably start on Thursday, sources in the management said. The unit provides employment to 2,500 regular workers and around 1,500 contract workers.

The company is suffering a production loss of Rs 5 crore a day and the Government is losing Rs 70 lakh in excise duty. The trouble started when the capacity of the plant was increased from 280 to 318 tonnes a day at a cost of Rs 15 crore. The workers refused to bridge the idle time from shift-to-shift and maintain machinery running, the sources pointed out. The company was losing as the machinery was not running to full time specifications.

In order to cut down costs and maintain quality, the factory also undertook changes in the product mix, which was also resisted by the workers. As a consequence, some export schedules as well as production for the domestic market were thrown out of gear. When the workers went into agitation, the company was forced to declare a lock-out at the factory from last Saturday, the management sources added.

“The labour problems at the plant are mainly due to worker’s resisting capacity expansion at the facility. Though we had announced our plans to expand production some time ago, it was only since the last few days that we began the actual groundwork to increase capacity,” said an Apollo Tyres spokesperson.

According to a company statement, it had been looking to expand its operations and infuse fresh investments at the Perambra facility to achieve maximum capacity. The expansion was planned mainly to mitigate the impact of current high prices of natural rubber, crude, crude-based raw material, transportation and energy costs. “Despite negotiations with the unions for the past few months, there has been no resolution to either maximise capacity or incur fresh investments,” the company said.

The company’s facility has a capacity to produce 270 tonnes of cross ply tyres for tractors and commercial vehicles.

The company said it would ensure that there was no shortfall in supplies of cross ply tyres due to the lockout.

More Stories on : Trade & Labour Unions | Tyres | Kerala

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