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Wage talks at HLL unit hits snags

Our Bureau

KOLKATA, July 20

THE negotiations over the long-term wage settlement between the management of Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) and Hindustan Lever Sramik Karmachari Congress, the union controlling HLL's workers employed in the Garden Reach factory here, has run into rough weat her, according to HLL sources.

The union has placed a charter of demands, suggesting an increase in emoluments of over Rs 14,000 per employee per month. The management on its part is insisting on substantial improvement in technology and productivity.

The union, according to HLL sources, is not inclined to include within the scope of negotiations the management's proposals for improvement in productivity norms. If the viability of the Garden Reach factory is to be maintained, according to the manageme nt, the productivity must improve and match that of the company's best run factories elsewhere. For this, the management is modernising the factory but modernisation will have little meaning unless the productivity norms are upgraded.

The management, while determining wages for workers of the Garden Reach factory, follows the principle of region-cum-industry norms and Garden Reach workers, it is claimed, are fairly well paid as compared to fellow workmen in similar factories in the re gion.

The last long-term wage settlement for HLL's Garden Reach factory expired on December 31 last, and the new agreement will be effective retrospectively from January 1, 2001 and will be valid till December 31, 2004.