Home » Business » IPCL staff to protest against transfer to RIL SEZ
Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd employees affiliated to three separate unions in Vadodra will go on a mass protest on Tuesday against the proposed transfer of some of them to Reliance Industries' SEZ in Jamnagar.
The decision to protest follows the announcement made by a Reliance spokesperson late on Sunday night, according to which some employees of IPCL's Vadodra complex will be relocated to the Jamnagar sites to enhance productivity of its city unit.
The Reliance board of directors had earlier this month decided to merge IPCL with Reliance. The Reliance management has been negotiating with the unions, trying to convince them that the transfers will be on rotational base.
The three unions - IPCL Employees Association, Petro Karmachari Union and IPCL Employees Union - announced that they will also go an indefinite sit-in fast from Tuesday.
Union leaders described the transfer as "illegal and unfair". "These employees have been working with IPCL since its inception and the new management intends to transfer 1,200 employees at new sites at Jamnagar, which is not acceptable to the employees and unions," INTUC general secretary M G Rathod said.
The union leaders said they had agreed to rotational transfer but the management wanted it on a permanent basis, which is not agreeable. They also alleged that four plants here have been closed down by the management.
Meanwhile, a company release stated that a few of the Vadodara complex plants were closed due to limitations of old vintage technology, lower and uneconomical capacities, lower yield and higher energy requirements.
The average age of employees of this complex is also high, requiring renewal of plants and people to enhance its long-term sustainability, the release said. About Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) have been invested in Vadodra complex in the past five years.
The union leaders alleged that the management has been creating fear of transfer in employees so that they opt for the voluntary separation scheme announced by the company.
This is the third time such scheme has been announced. It was introduced in 2003 and 2005 and bout 2,300 employees had opted for it, the release said.