Nokia employees' union mulling legal action

A day after Nokia announced its decision to suspend operations at its facility in Sriperumbudur near Chennai, the employees' union is looking at "legal options".

According to Nokia India Employees Union, there are about 900 employees still working at the factory. Following the Nokia-Microsoft $7.2 billion deal, the voluntary retirement scheme was offered for employees and 5,700 of them opted for it, from the total of 6,600.

On Tuesday, Nokia announced that it would suspend handset manufacturing at the Chennai plant from November, due to the termination of services agreement with Microsoft.

Responding to the company's decision, Nokia India Thozhilalargal Sangam (Nokia India Employees Union), honorary president and sitting MLA A Soundararajan said: "This is illegal. They have indirectly told us to leave the organisation. We are asking them to take care of our future. Some of the employees are working here for several years."

Nokia India Employees Union is a registered trade body and is backed by CITU.

Asked about further course of action, he said, "The management has issued circular in the factory about suspension of operations at the plant. We decided to hold a meeting last night. But it has been postponed."

"We will be meeting again later this week and decide. We will pursue legal options. We are also planning to meet the Labour Department," he told PTI.

According to him, about 900 employees would lose their jobs following the suspension of operations at the plant.

Another Union official flayed the management for not giving any clear picture on the future of the employees.

"They (Management) have clearly informed that the plant will suspend operations. But they did not inform about the future of the employees who are currently working there...", Nokia India Employees Union advisor, M UdhayaKumar said.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Nokia said it is evaluating options to minimise the impact on existing employees at the plant and would share further information once the details have been finalised.

According to the Union, the factory employed about 8,000 people, of which 60 per cent comprise women. About 10,000 people were indirectly employed in the region.