Dunlop To Recommence Work At Sahagunj Plant On Mar. 6

KOLKATA: Dunlop India on Tuesday said it would withdraw suspension of work at its Sahagunj facility and the plant would commence operation on March 6, reports media.The company declared suspension of work on November 30, 2008, after trade unions rejected the company's proposal for a temporary wage cut and suspension of production to tide over working capital crisis. The company had also approached the West Bengal Government for working capital refinance and a set of fiscal concessions. The company said in a statement that a few bankers have now agreed to meet the working capital requirement for running the plant. Besides, the State Government also said it would it would consider relief and incentives sought by the company.

The company is yet to reach a consensus with the labor unions on pending issues and reopening of the facility and it hopes to sort out all pending issues with the unions after the commencement of repairing and refurbishing of the plant, the release said.The company had initially asked 229 workers (out of a total of around 1,200) of maintenance and engineering division to report to duty. The rest of the workers will be inducted in different departments in a phased manner, once the plant is ready for production.

Tripartite meeting to reopen Dunlop

Kolkata, Jan 9: A tripartite meeting between the management of the Dunlop (India) Limited, the trade union of the company and the West Bengal government was held today at the state Labour Commissioner's office in an effort to reopen the Shahgunj plant of the company.Senior company officials were present at the meeting convened at the behest or the labour commissioner, a company release here said.

"We reiterate that we are keen to re-open the plant at the earliest,"the statement said. Labour union leader Dipankar Ray said that it was decided at the meeting that the company would submit a proposal to the union on January 14.

Production at Dunlop facility remained suspended since November 30 after the management of the company sought financial assistance from the West Bengal government in the form of loan and waiver of sales tax. Dunlop had asked for a Rs 100 crore loan from the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation as a bridge loan to keep the plant going.

Closure of Dunlop unit is unfortunate, says Mrinal

KOLKATA: Dec 02, 2008- The closure of Dunlop India Ltd's Sahaganj unit has come as a surpirse to the West Bengal government as it did not get any prior indication that the company was moving towards that direction.

State labour minister Mrinal Banerjee after a meeting with government officials on the Dunlop issue told reporters that the declaration of suspension of work by the Dunlop management was sudden and "the state is taken aback by the unfortunate decision."Dunlop India declared suspension of work on November 30 following its declaration of suspension of production just 13 days before.

According to company spokesman Dhrubajyoti Nandy, although Dunlop intended to only suspend production "for the time being" remitting Rs 2000 per month to each of its 1200 workers as aid substituting remuneration, both the CITU and INTUC-led labour unions did not sign an agreement agreeing to the company's terms. The unions were supposed to sign the agreement on November 24. "Hence we have decided to go for a suspension of work for an indefinite period and workers will be deprived of the supporting aid that we were willing to give," Nandy said.

Dipankar Roy and Bijon Kanti Sarkar, CITU and INTUC leaders, respectively, in Sahaganj said they were willing to sign the agreement to protect the interest of workers but a section of them had not allowed the unions to do that.

"By signing the agreement we could have prevented the immediate suspension of work and got time to negotiate with the management. But for a section of workers that could not happen," Roy said.Banerjee, who had a meeting with the minister of state for labour, Anadi Sahu, and chief minister's principal secretary Subesh Das, said: "We will soon talk to Dunlop officials and union leaders and try to find a solution.

"We will also try to implement the recently ammended industrial dispute Act to solve the Dunlop clousre issue," Banerjee said. Pawan Ruia controlled Ruia group took over Dunlop India from the Chhabarias in 2005 with a promise to revamp the closed units in Sahaganj and Ambattur.

Although Ruia had said the Sahaganj unit would run at 130 tonne capacity per day within one-one and a half years from the commencement of production, the unit never produced beyond a capacity of 40 tonne a day. Production at Sahaganj was actually halted since September, and Ruia waited for an opportunity to declare closure.

However, the financial downturn came as an opportunity for Ruia to declare suspension of production and thereafter suspension of work. The financial downturn, however, did not affect the Indian mining sector, to which the major chunk of Sahaganj's production, off the road tyres (OTRs), are meant.

According to Dunlop officials, owing to lack of market for Dunlop-brand OTRs, production was curtailed. Overhead costs (salaries not exceeding Rs 6 crore per month) too had mounted pressure on the working capital.

Dunlop chairman Pawan Ruia has put March 31 as the deadline to commence production at Sahaganj once again. Officials, however, said that the management was eager to re-start production in January itself, if it could arrange for a working capital of Rs 100 crore. Ruia, while announcing the suspension of work, had said that Rs 300 crore working capital would be needed to resume production.

Dunlop declares suspension of work at Sahaganj unit

Kolkata, 29 November, 2008: Tyre maker Dunlop India Ltd on Sunday declared suspension of work at its Sahaganj unit in the Hooghly district, affecting the fate of over 1,100 workers.

"After failure of rounds of prolonged discussions with the labour unions of Dunlop India Ltd, the management of the company is constrained to declare suspension of work at its Sahaganj plant with effect from November 30, 2008," a Dunlop statement said here. Just two years after it was revived, Dunlop decided a temporary suspension of work at the unit on November 17, citing lack of working capital.

During the suspension of production period during which workers were not required to report for duty, the management had proposed to pay each worker a solarium of Rs 2,000 per month. An agreement on this issue between the management and trade unions was supposed to be signed on November 20 but it did not materialise.

On November 24, Dunlop Chairman Pawan Ruia said that the company had approached the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation for a loan of Rs 100 crore. Ruia had taken over Dunlop in 2005 and Sahaganj factory opened in October 2006. The company's Ambattur factory in south India is already closed for long.

Govt ‘unhappy’ with Dunlop stand, no loan cushion for factory

Kolkata, 26 Nov., 2008 : The situation at Dunlop India took a new turn when it emerged that the company may not receive Rs 100 crore loan, which it has asked from the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) to resume production at its Sahagunj factory.

“No state government provides working capital to any factory. Merely because you could not get it from banks, you cannot rush to the government. If we give money to Dunlop, then other companies facing financial crunch will also approach us,” a highly-placed source at the Writers’ Buildings told The newspersons.

Labour Minister Mrinal Banerjee tried to organise a tripartite meeting between the management, trade unions and the state government on Tuesday. But with Dunlop chairman Pawan Ruia taking an unflinching stand on suspending the production, the meeting failed to take off.

“We told Ruia to modify the draft he gave us, where he used the phrase ‘suspension of production’ at Dunlop. He refused to change the words and hence the meeting could not take place,” said Banerjee.

According to labour department officials, the government can intervene only in cases such as lock-out, lay-off, suspension of work and retrenchment of work. But since Ruia stuck to the phrase ‘suspension of production’, the government washed its hands of Dunlop.

Government officials also said Ruia refused to budge from his demand that trade unions sign the agreement accepting Rs 2,000 as subsistence allowance for each worker.

On Tuesday, the Dunlop chief also met Subesh Das, Principal Secretary to the chief minister, and gave him a letter requesting for the loan of Rs 100 crore and sales tax exemption. “We have given the letter to the CM’s secretary. We had to suspend the production because of lack of working capital,” said Ruia.

Representatives of two trade unions owing allegiance to Centre of Indian Trade Unions and Indian National Trade Union Congress met the labour minister and demanded that the government bring Dunlop to the negotiating table.

“Ruia has lost his credibility. If he cannot mobilise Rs 70 crore to run the factory, why did he take up the unit,” Pramatesh Sen, state general secretary of INTUC, said.

Througout the day, the union leaders kept waiting at the Writers’ Buildings for a tripartite meeting. Finally in the evening they were told to go home.

Dunlop workers seek government intervention

SAHAGANJ(Hooghly), 19th November, 2008: Agitated workers of the Dunlop factory at Sahaganj in West Bengal protested at the gates of the unit on Tuesday and demanded its reopening.

On Monday, the Pawan Ruia Group that owns Dunlop cited the global economic meltdown; a lack of demand and a funds crunch and suspended production, offering workers Rs 2000 per month till the factory reopens. But the workers don't believe any of it - neither the reason for suspending work nor the offer of allowance. They want the factory back on stream and all their long-pending dues. Mrityunjay Pandey a worker at Dunlop, said, “The management is talking about the economy. But the economy has been down only for the last two months. They are just pretending, saying they will get money from here or there. But no one will give them any.

Harish Singh another worker said, “We have no faith in this management. Whatever agreement is to be made must be made in front of the Chief Minister or the Industry Minister. We will accept only those commitments.”

The leaders of the CITU and INTUC unions who had been talking to the management were incommunicado and demanding government intervention. Meanwhile there is evident gloom among the labourers. Since the Ruia group took over Dunlop two years ago, they had received some respite from the instability. But now the uncertainties seem to be back. Shakli Devi, wife of a Dunlop employee, said, “How will I run my family. There’s no work and no salary. How will I manage? As it is, we suffered for ten years. Now the trouble is back.”

It is certain that for the moment at least, the story of the revival of Dunlop India is truly over.With it industrialization in West Bengal has received another blow. Also a very, very uncertain future faces the 1202 workers who depended on Dunlop India for a livelihood.