Electrolux selloff irks labour

Workers at Electrolux India's units at Butibori in Nagpur and Warora in Vidarbha are unsure about their future following the company's acquisition by Videocon Industries. Electrolux had suspended production at the units two months back.

The workers filed five separate petitions fearing layoffs and charged the Electrolux management of duping them by entering into a deal with Videocon.

The workers union at Warora, filed its last petition on July 6, claiming that the Electrolux management was going back on its word of keeping the union in the picture while negotiating any deal involving the sale of the unit.

Kailash Tirpude, general secretary of the union, said the management had always assured the workers that its representatives would be consulted in decision affecting their interests.

"We were in touch with the management after newspapers reported that a deal between Electrolux and Videocon was imminent. They always denied it and even issued a circular asking employees not to believe in rumours. Now they have issued a notice of the acquisition which clearly indicates that the management was lying," he said.

The Union had also filed a petition in June fearing a change in terms of employment if the management chose to exit from the business. Tirpude said workers felt threatened of retrenchment or a voluntary retirement scheme offer.

"We had filed a petition seeking no change in terms of employment after any takeover," said Tirpude.

He said the petition was filed after the management decided to suspend operations at both the plants and couldn't give a reason for doing so.

"They told us that production was being stopped because they were carrying a heavy inventory. They couldn't give any further details of the products or the range which was not moving in days of a boom in consumer durables," he added.

The union's legal counsel B M Khan said production was stopped without giving any notice and could be construed as an indirect layoff.

He confirmed that an agreement between the union and the management required the latter to keep the workers informed of any major development which impacted them.

Senior executives at the two plants declined to comment over the issue. The Warora plant was dedicated to refrigerators, had a capacity of producing 25,000 units a day and workforce of around 300 workers.

Electrolux was making washing machines at the Butibori plant and the world's first "talking washing machine" christened "Washy Talky" was conceived and developed here.