Labour strife hits Raymond's Yavatmal unit expansion plan

Textile major Raymond Ltd's plans for a Rs 150 crore expansion at Yavatmal have been put on hold following a nine-day tools down strike by workers at the "ring-ring denim" unit of the company.

The nine-day strike has ended, but not before the company approached the labour court and postponed formal announcement of the expansion plan. Senior executives of the company, including chairman Gautam Hari Singhania, were to visit the plant on January 24 where the announcement was to be made.

Labour strife has already caused closure of two units in the MIDC area of the district in the past as Orient Syntex Ltd and a Hindustan Lever unit have downed shutters. While Orient Syntex couldn't resume operations, Hindustan Lever, where once again plans of expansion were being worked out, decided to shift the investment elsewhere.

The problem stems from aspirations of workers in the industrial belt of this backward district. "They look at their counterparts at Nagpur, Pune and Mumbai and want similar wages even when the work load is far less and the socio-economic conditions are very different," said president of Vidarbha Industries Association Mohan Agrawal.

He said, it would be a great loss to Vidarbha if Raymond too decided to invest elsewhere.

The Raymond unit at Yavatmal has a complement of 750 workers who make an average of Rs 4,500-5,000 per month. They were demanding an across the board hike of Rs 3,000. A breakaway faction of the recognised union, the Yavatmal Mill Mazdoor Sanghatana, called the strike and paralysed operations at the unit on January 19.

President of Raymond (denim division), Ajit Mantagani flew in from Mumbai to negotiate with the workers' representatives. However, when no agreement could be reached, the company went to the labour court and procured an order directing workers to either report for work or vacate the premises. The workers, it appears, were conducting 'bhajan' programmes in the unit's premises.

Mantagani said that the management would have to re-think the proposed expansion if the problem proved to be chronic to the region. Raymond has already invested Rs 400 crore in the plant and intended increasing the investment by another Rs 150 crore raising production from three crore meters of denim to four crore meters.

The strike ended after the management announced its decision to grant a pay hike of Rs 1,000 over the next four years with a payout of Rs 800 and more being offered in the first year itself.