 "Suspension of work notice at Jessop's Dum Dum plant")
According to the management the decision was taken “owing to continuous malicious intervention of outsiders in the functioning of the plant resulting overall disruption of the management’s plan to revamp the operations of the company.” The plant, which has been hardly operational for last one year, employs about 685 workers.
“The wasteful agitation had seriously affected the working of the Company and tarnished its image.
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It resulted in loss of production and also affected the productivity badly. The lack of productivity in the factory had eroded the economic structure of the Company,”the company said in a statement.
The plant has been almost non-operational since October last year. The management had issued transfer notice to few workers, which triggered workers' protest.
However, subsequently after a tripartite meeting attended by unions, government representative and Jessop management the issues were resorted temporarily. “The Unions committed full production on their part and based on such assurances by Government and Trade Unions, the management withdrew its proposal of linking wages to production for the time being.
Jessop management decided to wait and watch for 6 months. Since then however not a single locomotive or Road Roller has been produced till date and the management has assessed the situation at its Dum Dum Works to be completely out of its control,”the company statement said.
A section of worrkers'however questioned management's intention. “The management is not willing to run the plant. The government should something about it,” said Kameshwar Pande, one of the workers. The state labour minister Purnendu Bose, however, could not be contacted.
Set up in 1788, once an engineering giant during the British regime, has many firsts to its credit -- like building the first iron bridge in the country at Lucknow, manufacturing first boiler or participation in building the iconic Howrah Bridge.
Incidentally, Pawan Ruia group's tyre-manufacturing company's Dunlop's plant at Sahagunj in West Bengal too is closed and the group is contesting the Dunlop winding up order in the Supreme Court.