AFPBengaluru: Karnataka labour minister Shivaram Hebbar on Sunday said labour authorities have not received any complaints related to wage issues at the Wistron facility, the contract supplier of Apple which witnessed riots by sections of workers on Saturday morning.
The minister's comments came in response to a query related to the vandalism at the 44-acre facility, allegedly over issues related to calculation of overtime working hours. "We did not receive a single letter/notice or even a complaint over a phone call about salary payment issues at Wistron. This behaviour without even trying to contact the labour department is unpardonable. We are here to listen to their grievances. There is a grievance redressal mechanism in place, the Minister told ET.
"As labour minister, I am here to protect the rights of labourers. But, I cannot tolerate this kind of unruly behaviour. This sends a wrong message to the investors that Karnataka is not a safe destination for businesses. Incidents like this will not help add jobs. This incident has affected the lives of 10,000 families that were dependent on Wistron," Hebbar said.
The sudden eruption of riots after sections of workers attacked the 44-acre facility near Bengaluru on Saturday morning has left assets worth crores of rupees damaged, though the exact extent of the damage is still being assessed.
Deputy chief minister CN Ashwath Narayan said investigations into the incident have already begun and attackers will face stern action. Narayan, who also holds the IT portfolio, said the issue will be resolved soon. “We will take all measures to ensure the interest of manufacturers and employees is protected,” Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar told ET. He has directed the Kolar deputy commissioner to talk to both the company management and employees and submit a report.
The minister's comments came in response to a query related to the vandalism at the 44-acre facility, allegedly over issues related to calculation of overtime working hours. "We did not receive a single letter/notice or even a complaint over a phone call about salary payment issues at Wistron. This behaviour without even trying to contact the labour department is unpardonable. We are here to listen to their grievances. There is a grievance redressal mechanism in place, the Minister told ET.
"As labour minister, I am here to protect the rights of labourers. But, I cannot tolerate this kind of unruly behaviour. This sends a wrong message to the investors that Karnataka is not a safe destination for businesses. Incidents like this will not help add jobs. This incident has affected the lives of 10,000 families that were dependent on Wistron," Hebbar said.
The sudden eruption of riots after sections of workers attacked the 44-acre facility near Bengaluru on Saturday morning has left assets worth crores of rupees damaged, though the exact extent of the damage is still being assessed.
Deputy chief minister CN Ashwath Narayan said investigations into the incident have already begun and attackers will face stern action. Narayan, who also holds the IT portfolio, said the issue will be resolved soon. “We will take all measures to ensure the interest of manufacturers and employees is protected,” Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar told ET. He has directed the Kolar deputy commissioner to talk to both the company management and employees and submit a report.
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2 Comments on this Story
 | Vikram 3 minutes ago Please identify the root cause of this problem. If hundreds of workers are involved then it means there was some problem that was not fixed by the management. No worker will act like this unless there was extreme desperation and local management were ignoring the same. |
| MIHIRSINAI mihirsinai9 minutes ago There is no smoke without a fire and this action by workers isn't over a demand for higher wages .... |