LML declares lockout, staff protest

ON TUESDAY, two-wheeler maker LML declared lockout at its Kanpur plant. Though the LML management has cited labour unrest for the step, the employees’ union of company Lohia Machine Karamchari Sangh blamed it on the financial crisis.

General secretary of the employees’ union AK Awasthi told Hindustan Times that the lockout move was in violation of all labour laws.

A delegation of employees also met additional labour commissioner Chandramani Lal Maurya and asked him to declare the lockout illegal and ensure reopening of the factory.

Union leaders also complained that even the Rs 1200 that was promised by the management had not been given to them.

“We have asked the additional labour commissioner to ensure that the money is paid to the employees before Holi,” Awasthi said.

Maurya on his part solicited three-days time from the employees’ union to contact senior level management officials of the company and initiate a dialogue.

No senior officials of the company were present in the city to comment on the lockout. Efforts to contact managing director, LML, Sanjeev Shriya and ED (Personnel) RK Srivastav went in vein. Factory manager KP Tripathi was also not available for comment.

HT was the first to report on the informal layoff at LML and production coming to a standstill due to financial crisis. At that time also, no senior official came forward to comment on the issue.

For the last one month production at LML plant had come to a grinding halt due to financial crisis. Only the assembling unit, which forms 15 per cent of the work, was operative. The extent of financial crisis in LML can be gauged from the fact that salaries of officials and workers are pending for the past many months.

The company had intimated that all pending dues of employees would be cleared on February 27. The company also said that the staff would not get their bonus as LML had suffered a financial loss of Rs 375 crore.

However, when employees turned up to collect their wages on February 27 private security personnel stopped them from entering the factory premises.

Even the demand of employees for a discussion with the factory management was turned down by factory manager KP Tripathi.

The workers had staged a demonstration at the office of the labour commissioner and submitted a memorandum to district magistrate Deepak Kumar.
Meanwhile, the employees have decided to continue with their protest against the illegal lockout till all dues of employees were cleared.