The Assam Carbons Products Limited (ACPL), which has been facing labour unrest since 2007 that affected its production, has asked the employees’ union to come forward for talks to find a permanent solution to the deadlock.
The company, which manufactures morganite electrical and mechanical carbon materials and components, and has been a pioneer in its field, has been plagued by labour unrest and frequent closures since November 2007. The UK-based Morgan Crucible Plc has the majority stake in ACPL.
Company sources informed Business Standard that the management, in a desperate attempt to put things right, has offered the employees’ union to come for talks. “We are ready to sit and find out an amicable solution with the workers,” said a senior official.
The official did not rule out pulling out of Assam if the company’s attempts to restore normalcy failed. “We never want to leave Assam. But if we are left with no option due to the adamant attitude of the workers, we might have to think of a pull-out,” he said.
He said that ACPL had been losing about Rs 1 crore every month since the unrest started in 2007. The company has over 250 workers at its Birkuchi plant in Assam. ACPL has another plant near Hyderabad.
A press statement issued by the company stated that there has been a “complete collapse of work environment with various instances of intimidations, concerted go-slow, gheraos and violence on management staff by workmen are badly affecting the work.”