JK mill again grinds to a halt,authorities to meet on June 25

The fate of the mill is likely to be decided at a meeting to be held at the Additional Labour Commissioner office on June 25.

It will be attended by the mill management,employees’ unions,Labour department officials and district authorities. The management had not attended the meetings on June 10 and 19.

Before June 25,employees and management are expected to lock horns again as the salary for May has yet not been paid. The staff has threatened to protest they were not paid on June 22.

Optimistic of a positive response during the June 25 me-eting,District Magistrate Anil Kumar Sagar said: “The unions have many demands,we will try that the manageme-nt accepts the genuine ones.”

Though both the sides do not favour a lockout,the management faced frequent conflicts with the unions over issues like increase of salaries,permanent job to all employees,dearness allowance and retirement age of employees. Finally,the thrashing of senior officials by employees on June 6 led to the suspension of work.

The mill’s General Manager,SK Singh,said: “We had invested a huge amount for the mill’s revival,but owing to the attitude of the unions,we were compelled to suspend work.”

He claimed that since the reopening of the mill on October 20,2008,the unions have come up with new demands virtually daily.

“It is not possible for the management to accept each demand,” he added.

“We want to start work only if the unions give a commitment to work as per norms and not to resort to violence,” added Singh.

The union members are also against the closure. J K Jute Mill Mazdoor Union leader,Devendra Singh said: “It will be a major loss for us if the mill shut down. Therefore,despite work suspension orders,we have carried out production for 14 days.”

The situation would have never emerged if the management had fulfilled its commitment made at the time of reopening,said Singh.

Additional Labour Commissioner,Shri Ram Singh said he has recently received a memorandum of the union demands. “During the June 25 meeting,we will try to settle the differences between the management and employees,” he said.