Telco to shut down Jamshedpur unit

TATA group firm Telco is planning to shut down its assembly line for six days beginning November 27 for maintenance and relocation of exis...

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TATA group firm Telco is planning to shut down its assembly line for six days beginning November 27 for maintenance and relocation of existing machinery. Tata Engineering’s Pune plant had a similar shutdown earlier this month between November 17 and 22. The company is facing a major labour unrest over its plans to sack 2,800 workers.

The company, which has recorded a loss of Rs 220 crore for the first-half, has recently moved into a single-shift schedule here from a three-shift day as the demand for its heavy vehicles has been affected due to poor market conditions.

A company notice on the "block closure", issued by the company’s senior vice-president here, A P Arya, said workers affected by the assembly shutdown will their privilege/casual leave adjusted for three days (between November 27 and 29) while for the remaining three days, they will be paid normal wages.

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The affected employees have been asked to report for normal duty from December 4. The notice further says that certain departments/divisions will be excluded from the block closure and employees deployed in these departments/divisions will be paid normal wages.

Another company source said that according to an agreement between the Telco Workers’ Union (TCWU) and the management in June 1998, the management can shut down either the entire plant or some of the divisions/departments for maintenance, relocation of existing machinery, installation of new equipment or for any other purpose.