Will the management honour the directions of Labour Minister Santosh Lad, issued at the tripartite meeting between the representatives of workers and management of Aequs Special Economic Zone, Hattargi in Hukkeri taluk of Belagavi district?
This is the question haunting workers and their unions after winning what they said was a more than four-month-long struggle against exploitation and injustice at the workplace.
Speaking a press conference here on Saturday, Krantikari Kamagara Union Aequs Private Limited [affiliated to the Trade Union Centre of India (TUCI)] and TUCI leaders said the Minister, who presided over the tripartite meeting at Vidhana Soudha on December 21, expressed his resentment over the way in which the management was treating the workers. The Minister also condemned as “improper” and “unfair” the lathi charge upon workers at a workshop on the SEZ premises at Hattari on December 17.
The TUCI State secretary K.B. Gonal, national secretary Sanjay Singhvi, KKU president Sanjay Shingle and other KKUK/TUCI leaders were present at the meeting with the Minister.
Mr. Gonal and Belagavi district president Maruti Dhagennavar said the Minister not only directed the management of the company represented by Basavaraj Sugangdhi, Head-Admin, and Madan Mohan, Vice President-HR, to revoke the termination orders in respect of all the 15 workers but also provide relief to the 42 workers who were housed in a workshop without any work on December 17. The Minister also asked the management to withdraw the cases filed against the workers and help in getting them released from judicial custody at the earliest.
Mr.Gonal alleged that the company started harassing the workers just because they formed the union on September 5 this year. The management called in the police at the SEZ workshop, which resorted to a lathi charge on workers and arrested 195 of them. On Friday evening, 160 were granted bail by a local court; another 35 were still housed in the Hindalga Central Prison.
The police continued to harass workers and union leaders. The union leaders were not allowed to address a press conference at Kannada Sahitya Bhavan in the city under the pretext of not having obtained prior permission from the police station concerned, he said.
The TUCI leaders wanted the district administration to intervene and ensure that the police officers responsible for the lathi charge at SEZ were brought to book.
