INTUC State president R. Chandrashekharan has termed the claims made by Kitex Garments managing director Sabu Jacob as unjustifiable.
There are rules governing business establishments in the State, and the Labour Department had found around 70 labour law violations by the company, he said in a statement. Mr. Jacob had approached the court to get a stay on paying even minimum wages to employees, Mr. Chandrashekharan alleged.
Minimum wages were to be implemented after trilateral discussions, and Mr. Jacob must study the situation before making any claims, he added. He said that Mr. Jacob’s threat to stop investing a further ₹3,500 crore in Kerala was immature.
Mr. Chandrashekharan said there was no objection to Mr. Jacob entering politics but warned that the company would not be allowed to procure “slave labour” from workers from other States. Mr. Jacob should come forward to correct his “anti-worker” policies, he said. He added that the government’s stand on Kitex issue was not still clear and called for measures to ensure minimum wages in the company.
