Date:02/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/02/stories/2008120258190300.htm

Kerala - Kochi

Hindalco employees protest KSEB ‘inaction’

Staff Reporter

The smelter division of Hindalco unit was shut down more than five years ago in the face of rising power charges.

KOCHI: Workers at the Aditya-Birla group company unit Hindalco near here has blamed the Kerala State Electricity Board for delaying the setting up of a Rs. 60-crore extrusion press, a project approved by the State government and company management for rehabilitating more than 80 workers, who are temporarily laid off and for reviving the fortunes of the Alupuram unit.

The smelter division of Hindalco unit (formerly Indal) was shut down more than five years ago in the face of rising power charges in the State.

Closing down the unit also saw the company management laying off more than 300 workers in the unit. Several rounds of negotiations among the management, workers and State government resulted in a plan to set up a new extrusion press.

However, the State electricity board has not been able to reach an accord with the Hindalco management on the details of the power supply.

A spokesman for Save Hindalco Trade Union Samithy, an umbrella organisation of various trade unions at the company, blamed the electricity board for failing to follow the directives issued at the end of a meeting among the Chief Minister, the Industries Minister and the Electricity Minister.

The meeting ended with a directive to the State Labour Commissioner to settle the labour issues and a directive to the electricity board to address the issues related to the supply of electricity to Hindalco. The samithy accused the electricity board of being stubborn on issues related to supply of power to Hindalco.

A dharna was held before the company gates on Monday by Hindcalco employees and their family members.

The State secretary of CITU, M. M. Lawrence, inaugurated the dharna. State Secretary of the INTUC, B. Shashidharan, and K. N. Gopinath, joint secretary of the CITU, Ernakulam district, and other leaders spoke.