Date:21/02/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/21/stories/2008022151130800.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Jute mill re-election after 6 months

Correspondent

VIZIANAGARAM: The stalemate over declaring results of union elections in East Coast Jute Mills ended on Tuesday with Deputy Commissioner of Labour Varahal Reddy announcing that re-election to a recognised union would be conducted after a gap of six months. Polling to elect the union was held on Monday.

Telugu Nadu Trade Union Council, IFTU and CITU contested the elections. Out of 3,556 voters 3,119 exercised their right.

TNTUC and IFTU polled 1,443 votes each. Following a dispute over a single vote between TNTUC and IFTU the DCL declared it invalid after seeking opinion of experts and kept the result in abeyance around 11 pm on Monday.

While TNTUC pressed for lottery, IFTU demanded re-election. The DCL referred the issue to the Commissioner of Labour.