The Engineering Labour Union of Usha Martin Ltd’s wire rope factory in Ranchi has expressed concern about irregular payment of salaries to the labourers for the last 2-3 years.

The union, which is affiliated to Hind Mazdoor Sabha, has also sought government intervention to facilitate sale of the company’s wire rope manufacturing facility at Tatisilwai in Ranchi to Tata Steel.

Usha Martin had recently entered into an agreement with Tata Steel to sell its 1-million-tonne steel business for a cash consideration of ₹4,300-4,700 crore.

In a letter to the Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das, the Labour Union’s Secretary-General Anjani Kumar Pandey said the management has not been paying salaries to its labourers for last 2-3 years and is making excuses that it is in losses.

A Usha Martin spokesperson, however, denied the allegation and said that there were some delays in payment of salaries by a few days on some occasions. A small group of employees, a part of an unrecognised union, have been creating unrest demanding enhanced bonus. “The company had gone through a difficult period in the past few years and has had unavoidable delays in payment of salaries by a few days on some occasions,” the spokesperson said.

Usha Martin said it has signed a settlement with the recognised union on 8.33 per cent bonus as per the Bonus Legislation and has granted an ex-gratia amount to encourage employees. The bonus payment has already started and will be completed in 2-3 days.

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