Union trouble erupts again at HSCL after management alleges assault on CFO

Trouble revived in the company after contractual staff pushed for making them permanent staff

After the signing of an agreement with workers and executives after the acquisition of Hindustan Steel Works Construction Ltd (HSCL) by NBCC (India) Ltd, trouble has erupted again at this state-owned firm, with the management alleging unwarranted trouble from the contractual employees union and the union, in turn, alleging violation of terms as per a previously concluded agreement.

After NBCC took over 51 per cent equity in the hitherto loss-making HSCL in 2017, thereby infusing Rs 357 million, and the Centre infusing another Rs 340 million, it was decided that the corporate office of HSCL will be relocated to Delhi from Kolkata.

The contractual employees, allegedly sensing potential job loss, vehemently opposed the move and finally, after arbitration from the assistant labour commissioner in the city, a memorandum of settlement (MoS) was concluded between the management and the employees’ union.

Nilesh Shah, Managing Director at HSCL, alleged that on Tuesday night, that contractual employees, belonging to HSCL Contractual Employees Union (HCEU), “physically assaulted and forcefully confined the company’s Chief Financial Officer, M C Bansal and he is currently admitted in the hospital”.
 

“It happened all of a sudden without any provocation. The police were called in to help us on this matter”, Shah said.

On the other hand, Joydeep Lahiri, finance officer at HSCL, who is also the general secretary of HCEU, alleged that Bansal had stayed back in the office till late night without any forceful conferment and had developed some health complications.

Currently manned by only 47 permanent employees, HSCL has 480 staff who are contractually employed.

Trouble revived in this company after these contractual staff pushed for making them permanent staff, which HCEU claimed is part of the MoS. Also, the contracts of 180 employees are expiring and the management hasn’t renewed the contract.

Among the contractual staff, around 300 employees, who are not paid any employee benefits apart from salary, have a direct contract with HSCL while 180 others, who are paid some employee benefits are on the payroll of an agency and HSCL has a contract with this agency which is expiring on October 5.

Lahiri claimed that after this contract with the agency expires, these 180 staff will become unemployed as HSCL is not ready to enter into a direct agreement with them.

The contractual employees claimed that as part of the MoS, it was agreed that the contract for these employees will be renewed until the time they are made permanent; a claim which Shah has refuted.

“To make employees permanent, a certain set of procedures will have to be followed. We cannot make anyone permanent just like that. Even the Supreme Court has observations and rulings on this”, Shah claimed adding that the entire operations in its corporate office in Kolkata, manned majorly by the contractual staff has been jeopardised affecting ongoing projects worth Rs 22 billion.

On the other hand, Lahiri claimed that since 2006, HSCL doesn’t pay for employee benefits like the provident fund, gratuity and other benefits and “inconsistency in its accounts, arising partly from it, was found in its audit memo by the auditors appointed by the government which the company tried to suppress.

“Despite signing the MoS, HSCL wants to close this head office in Kolkata and do away with all the contractual staff”, he alleged. 

Over the years, HSCL, unable to recruit any fresh manpower, became totally dependent on contractual workers not only to run its corporate office but service its clients across the steel and other sectors as well.