Labour Min meets Dunlop union leaders, hopes early solution

Kolkata, May 23 (UNI) West Bengal Labour Minister Mrinal Banerjee today exuded confidence that the closed Dunlop factory at Sahaganj near here would be re-opened soon with the management and the labour unions coming to amicable settlements over their financial disputes.

Speaking to newsmen after holding an hour-long meeting with senior representatives of both the CITU and INTUC unions at his chamber here to know their views, Mr Banerjee said he was hopeful for an early settlement of all disputes regarding the mode of payment to the factory workers before its scheduled re-opening by June this year.

He said soon after assuming the new office he convened today's meeting with the labour unions on one side and the top management on the other in an effort to arrive at an amicable solution to resolve the disputes.

But as Dunlop Chairman Pawan Kumar Ruia was out of station and could not come, he held talks with the union representatives and listened to their views.

"I realise that there could be some lacuna in the bipartite agreement", Mr Banerjee said and stressed the need for further talks not only to arrive at an early solution, but also to pave the way for immediate re-opening of the plant.

The dispute between the new Dunlop management and the labour unions began when the former started making payment of dues to the factory workers for the closure period.

Though the union leaders demanded that a minimum of Rs 5,000 should be paid to every worker as the first instalment of dues for the period of closure, the management thought otherwise and paid according to the number of days they had worked during that period since 2001 and in accordance with the bipartite agreement signed in presence of the industry minister in January this year.

The situation turned critical and the impasse continued indefinitely when Dunlop workers refused to accept the payment en-masse as directed by the leaders of both the unions ruling out the possiblity of an early re-opening of the closed Sahagang unit.

Later several attempts by Mr Ruia and other members of the top management to arrive at a consensus failed leading to the intervention of the new labour minister to ensure that any form of militant trade unionism does not come in the way of the much sought after re-opening of the prestigious plant.

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