: Employees of the cordite factory in Aruvangadu here refused to work today after an accidental fire in a store room of the propellant plant damaged some equipment and raw materials.
Union sources said the store room, where the raw material were kept, caught fire last evening, when there were no workers present as it was a Sunday.
The fire fighting team in the factory doused the flames, they said.
On coming to know of the incident, nearly 1,000 workers who reported for duty this morning refused to work unless and until the management assured them safety.
They said there would have been casualities if the incident had happend on a workng day as 15 persons were working in that particular store room.
The workers who went inside at 8 AM and returned around 6.30 PM, without working, said that the management heard their grievances and assured them these would be looked into.
The management also ordered an inquiry into the fire incident, in which some trolleys and raw material were destroyed, the sources said.
