CHANDIGARH, Sept 27: Workers of Kandhari Beverages, a bottling plant of Coke, in Phase I, Industrial Area, demonstrated outside the plant here today, demanding reinstatement of 35 workers recently fired by the management and alleging violation of labour laws.The workers' union president, Tejwant Singh, alleged that the employees had been working in the concern for the past 20 to 22 years, but had been issued no appointment letters till date, nor given pay slips, and the I-cards issued to them were taken back on the pretext that the company would issue new ones. They were fired without notice and given no benefits, as required under the labour law, he added.General Manager, S.K. Grover, when contacted, said that "not a single worker had been sacked." He also said: "We have issued appointment letters to each and every one, and the workers are not working here for 20 to 22 years but from two to 10 years. They sign the pay sheet and only then do they get paid."Claiming that this was not the real issue, he said: "They were blocking the main gate of the plant every evening, since one week, and using obscene language. That is why we got a stay order from the court to keep them about 300 m from the plant. As our business interest was affected, we transferred a few workers to the godown at Zirakpur. They don't want to be shifted, so they are making allegations against us."
