MTR Foods lifts lock-out

The management of MTR Foods, the Bangalore-based Rs 135 crore packaged foods manufacturer, today lifted lock-out at its factory in Bommasandra near here after the workers agreed to return to work unconditionally.

The 11-day long lock-out was lifted at 4.30 pm and the workers have returned to work following the signing of a good conduct letter by 600-odd employees at the factory, said Srikanth, a general manager at MTR Foods.

Srikanth said the employees agreed to sign the good conduct letter and return to work at a tripartite meeting at the labour commissioner's office today. "We have resolved all the issues at the meeting and subsequently the workers have returned to work," he said. He, however, declined to comment whether the management considered the demands of the workers for an increase in their salary.

The employees had been demanding a hike in their salary on a par with MNC standards after the takeover of MTR by Orkla Group of Norway in February this year. The workers had resorted to a go-slow strike from May 2, 2007 after the management declined to consider their demand for a wage hike.

The company has suffered a production loss of over Rs 1 crore during the last one week in addition to a loss of raw materials. "We are yet to assess the exact loss of production during the last few days," company sources said.