Anticipating law and order problem at the Facor Alloys Limited in wake of the ‘labour unrest’, the management did not lift the lockout on Friday. The management declared lockout on February 4 this year citing unrest in loading and unloading section.
When contacted, Bobbili Sub-Divisional Police Officer Ishaq Ahmed said that the Facor Labour Union had taken a rigid stand after the management put a pre-condition that workers willing to report for duty must sign on the agreement that it had entered into with the recognised Facor Employees’ Union on May 19. Representatives of the Labour Union and Facor Kamika Sangham have disagreed with the agreement and demanded that the management continue the conditions in force prior to the lockout date.
R. Ramana, general secretary of Labour Union and M. Srinivasa, honorary president of Karmika Sangham said that the 19/5 agreement would give scope for the management to get works done through outsourcing. Mr. Ramana said that the management wanted to deduct sales tax from them and also suggested the union to settle their status (regular or contract) through the court of law. The dispute over the status of 265 loading and unloading workers in the factory led to the lockout. Lakkaraju N. Murty, DGM (Personnel) said that a date for reopening the factory would be decided in the next few days.
