Assam Carbon plea on talks

Guwahati, July 5: The Assam Carbon Products Limited today appealed to the employees of its factory at Birkuchi to come to the negotiating table but also cautioned that it would be forced to take drastic steps if the workers continued to stick to their “unreasonable demands”.

The company, which manufactures morganite electrical and mechanical carbon materials and components, has been closed since November 29 allegedly because of an illegal strike by the workers. The company has suffered a loss of Rs 5 crore during this period.

The appeal comes a week after the Assam Carbon Workers and Employees’ Union warned the management that the situation would spin out of control if the lockout was not lifted immediately.

The employees’ union organised a public meeting here yesterday asking the government to intervene.

General manager (operations) G.P. Chawla said the workers were in no mood to resolve the problem through discussions and were resorting to delaying tactics.
and engaging in blame game.

“We are starting to feel that some of the workers are being influenced by our competitors. Our rival companies are taking advantage of this lockout,” he alleged.

Chawla said it was not that all the employees were supporting the “illegal” demands of the union. The company has 274 employees at present. “More than 60 employees have approached us and expressed their willingness to resume work, but we want all the employees to come back to work,” he said. source: telegraph india