220 workers protest Premier unit closure

By Vishal Srivastav

AFTER NO SALARIES FOR 8 MONTHS...

Staffers find Chinchwad factory locked, notice saying ‘operations discontinued’; claim PF and insurance covers also not been paid for months. Company had admitted to concerns for ‘tough times’ on website

As many as 220 officials, including factory workers, of renowned machine manufacturer Premier Ltd, owned by Maitreya V Doshi, have been left in the lurch after the company’s Chinchwad unit shut operations abruptly this week. The main gate of the factory has been locked and now sports a notice declaring that operations stand “discontinued”.

The agitating staffers claim the lockdown came sans any prior intimation — they came to work one day and found the doors locked. Speaking to Mirror on Friday, they also alleged that the company has not paid them salaries for the last eight months, while further failing to contribute to their provident fund (PF) accounts or life insurance policies (despite refuting the latter), and these now stand lapsed.

The registered union of these workers had filed a case against the company in the industrial court on November 23 last year, and won. On January 3, 2018, the court directed Premier Ltd to clear all dues. For this, the company asked the workers for some time, and resumed operations — in the meantime, the staff had to continually clamour for their wages, as they were finding it hard to make ends meet.

Premier Ltd came into being 56 years ago, and manufactures heavy engine machine parts at Chinchwad. It is best known as the maker of the Premier Padmini cars that roamed the streets a few decades ago. The company is said to have been struggling to cope financially for a while now, due to lack of business output on low demand.

Ashish Prabhakar Shinde, leader of the Premier Ltd workers’ union, said, “Most of our workers have been here for more than 10 years — this is how their loyalty has been rewarded. With no salaries for eight months, one cannot imagine how we have been surviving. Initially, we did not even question the company, due to our faith in it. But then, things just continued to get worse.”

One such long-time worker, Santosh Kadam, told Mirror, “My wife suffers from a kidney disorder and requires treatment constantly. Her expenses alone are a big task for me, leave aside daily spend for the kids and household.” His peer Bhalchandra Mali said, “All we want is our hard-earned money. The employees at the Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai and New Delhi branches are all getting their salaries. What is the issue here? We appeal to the chairman to listen to our lament.” Worker Abdul Wadi added, “These are expensive times and prices are skyrocketing for everything. It’s hard to spend even eight days without money — we have done it for eight months. All of us owe tremendous debts now, and people are done giving us loans as well, knowing we cannot repay them. Finding a new job will also be tough.”

The workers’ union general secretary Sharat Narayan Jadhav, shared, “The industrial court had ruled in our favour and directed the company to pay our dues by the end of January this year, but that has not happened. This is a violation of the law. Our PF and life insurance covers also don’t exist. We were kept in the dark about all of this. All this time, our money was deducted, but never transmitted ahead in our favour. We have zero fallbacks. When we protested against this, they locked down the factory.”

When contacted, a senior official from the company anonymously shared, “Salaries are not being given because there is not enough revenue, due to very low business output in recent times. That is the basic reason workers have not been paid.” Interestingly, the company’s chairman has also voiced concerns about tough times recently, in a message on their official website.

Weighing in on the legal options these workers now have, senior advocate Nalin Bhat opined, “The issue is grave and the company may be on the backfoot. The workers can approach the labour court to lodge a grievance as well. Further, if the workers’ claims are correct that their PF and insurance covers have not been paid, they can also charge the company under sections 405 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.”

█ The industrial court directed the company to pay our dues by the end of January, but that did not happen. This is a violation of the law

— Sharat Narayan Jadhav, general secretary, Premier Ltd workers’ union