Threats of a pause on loss-making operations by a company, legal intervention and finally retrenchment of 275 workers. For West Bengal which has seen many trade union strikes and industrial lock outs, this may not be a fresh sight.
But in one of the first such major incidents in the Mamata Banerjee regime, ABG Haldia Bulk Terminals (AHBT), which operates at Kolkata Port’s Haldia Dock Complex (HDC), has gone for retrenchment of 275 people citing reasons of an oversized payroll of 650 and loss in operations. Courtesy, the political intervention in Haldia industrial belt, who are demanding a rollback of the decision now.
According to a top AHBT official, the firm was forced to hire more than 220 people in the first round in 2010 backed by the then CPM strongman Lakshman Seth and Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU). “Soon after that Trinamool Congress’s Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress (INTTUC) came up with a demand that unless we hire the same amount of people, AHBT will not be allowed to start operations. It was a pecondition to start work,” the official said.
AHBT, a joint venture company between ABG Infralogistics and French firm Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA), had a total workforce of 1000, out of which 650 are on its payroll and another 350 is under a sub-contractor.
Last week, the port authorities had reached an agreement with the AHBT for maximum utilisations of berth number 2 and 8 operated by the company following a High Court direction.
The deal said that all vessels carrying dry bulk cargo arriving at HDC will be allocated to AHBT berths and if these berths are engaged, vessels will be allocated to other berths. Kolkata Port was forced to approach the court after the firm threatened to suspend its operations at Haldia unless more cargo is not assured. There were large scale protests in Haldia when the port authorities tried to implement the deal.
AHBT was suffering an accumulated loss of Rs 45 crore from Haldia operations, while it has invested Rs 140 crore till now. The firm’s demand was that the port should ensure 9 million tonne of cargo, compared to 5.5 MT that it handles now.
“We were facing a loss of Rs 2 crore every month, with the retrenchment, it will be reduced to Rs 40 lakh. We had not other choice but to do this to survive at Haldia. Would like to ask the protestors on what would they choos, a complete lockout of operations or a partial retrenchment,” the AHBT official added.
Political Resistance On Cards
It was the same political parties who triggered the issue by forcing the firm to hire more people who came out in public against the move.
Tamluk MP and TMC leader Suvendu Adhikari who told Business Standard days ago that the implementation of the deal between the company and the port would lead to loss of 10,000 jobs in other terminals said, “We will not allow any job cuts in Haldia. Though TMC is against strike, will give our support to the retrenched workers. I have already conveyed my displeasure to the management and written a letter to the regional labour commissioner too.”
When asked about the political intervention during the hiring process, he added, “The company is blaming us for their own profit.”
Even the CPM was not far behind on speaking for the workers. “Where is the chief minister who projects herselves to be a revolutionary. She is not speaking for these workers who lost their jobs. While the port authorities have given up the operations, it is local hooligans who are ruling in Haldia,” said CPM leader Mohammad Salim.
According to the company, AHBT operated berth No 2 and 8 have improved the productivity at Haldia by 300 per cent, from 5,000 tonnes per day to 20,000 tonnes a day. Therefore suspension of HBT’s operations will imply an immediate revenue decrease of 75 per cent on dry bulk amounting to Rs 90 crore per year for HDC, the company had said.
Even the port authorities washed their hands on the developments in Haldia. KoPT chairman Manish Jain said, “We had categorically asked the company not to take any step before consulting us. We were not aware of such a move.”