INDIA: Cement dispatch affected as contract workers of Sindri factory sit on dharma

SINDRI: A small tiff over a petty issue proved costly to the management of the Sindri cement works of ACC when contract workers owing allegiance to Jharkhand Colliery Shramik Union sat on a dharna in front of the factory main gate disrupting dispatch of cement for nearly 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Sindri police have lodged two cases one against the contractor workers for assaulting the security officer of the factory and the other against the security officer for allegedly using derogatory words on the statement of contract workers.

An ox of Bheemshankar Mahto of a nearby village was hit by a cement carrying truck on Friday afternoon. Some contract workers of the same village chased the truck demanding compensation for the injuring the animal. While the contract workers were negotiating with the truck driver who ultimately agreed to pay the treatment cost of the animal, the security officer of the factory Major S Paul interfered and scolded some of the workers for creating an ugly scene in front the factory gate.

The verbal dual between the workers and the security officer turned ugly when contract workers charged the security officer with passing derogatory remarks against the workers and assaulted him. The contractor workers then sat on dharna under the banner of Jharkhand Colliery Shramik Union demanding unconditional apology from the security officer. The local police interfered and saved the situation from turning violent by assuring to take legal action against the warring factions after which the workers agreed to lift the dharna.

But when the workers tried to enter the factory at midnight, the factory management said as the material from railway wagon has been unloaded using machines and their shift time was over, they cannot enter the factory. This irritated the workers who started the dharna afresh and blocked the factory main gate from 1 am. The contract workers alleged that the factory management has stopped paying1 fringe benefits to them for last two years and they have raised the issue with the ALC. When there was no dispute with the factory management, the security officer interfered with an ulterior motive to pressure workers in the name of disciplinary action to make them stop raising demands, they added. The dharna was lifted at around 2pm after Jharia circle officer Rinku Kumari and officer in-charge Manoj Kumar Singh spoke to both workers and management. The factory management agreed to solve their problems and talk to the workers and union after 15th August.

Chief manager (HR) Bhupinder Singh Bais refuted the allegations and charged the workers with using pressure tactics to lift the police case against them. The security officer was well within his right to interfere in the dispute with truck carrying cement before the factory gate; he maintained adding that asking the security officer to apologize after assaulting him was not a good signal for the industry as a whole. It would be difficult to run the factory if the workers kept disrupting production and dispatch, he added.

Jharkhand Colliery Shramik Union general secretary J K Jha, secretary Indrajeet Mahto, Binod Mahto, Budhan Bauri, Ramu Mahto, Ramesh Mahto, Kumar Mahto, Pramuksh Singh, Ganesh Mahto were prominent among others leading the dharna.