Search the Internet          Tips  Sites: Finance, Investment

Supreme Court asks Balco workers to call off strike

The Supreme Court has asked striking workers at newly privatised aluminium-maker Balco to end a two-month-old walkout that has halted production at the plant.

The SC's request on Tuesday came after Balco's new management, Sterlite Industries, agreed to pay the workers for the time they were on strike and promised that none would be laid off.

The nearly 7,000 workers launched the strike on March 3, saying they were worried that sale of the plant, India's first big-ticket privatisation, would lead to dismissals.

The court asked the workers to comply with its request by May 8 when it meets again to consider the matter.

Bharat Aluminium Co produces 15 per cent of India's aluminium output.

"The court in the light of management's offer has asked unions to resume work if they want to before the next hearing," Kapil Sibal, lawyer for the unions said.

The unions said they would consider the court's request.

"We're yet to take a decision but we're considering the offer", Madan Lal, head of the Delhi unit of Balco's union, said.

The workers began the strike at the plant in Korba in the central state of Chhattisgarh after the federal government sold its 51 per cent stake in Balco to private metals firm Sterlite for Rs 5.51 billion.

Balco management said on Tuesday it hoped work would resume soon following the Supreme Court's request.

"We've given an undertaking there will be no retrenchment. I hope the work begins soon. That's the priority," Sterlite chairman Anil Agarwal said.

"We have also agreed to pay the unpaid salaries as an advance which can be adjusted later," he added.

The new management said on April 11 that losses due to the strike totalled Rs 1 billion. Agarwal said then that once the plant was going full-tilt, the losses would be "negligible in the overall perspective".

Talks to settle the strike at the plant ended in a stalemate after trade unions demanded that the deal be scrapped. But the government said the sale was irreversible.

Sterlite said it aimed to expand Balco's capacity to 250,000 tonnes a year in two to three years from 100,000 tonnes and "make it the best and largest plant in the world".

ALSO READ:
The Balco Saga