UTI, the oldest mutual fund in the country, is set to put some of its labour issues to rest by reinstating seven officers it suspended following an agitation by their union for wage hikes.
Its negotiations with the employee union, All India UTI AMC Officers’ Association, before the Chief Labour Commissioner are nearing an end and all seven suspended officers are likely to be reinstated soon, according to two people familiar with the matter.
In May last year UTI transferred the seven officers, all office bearers of the union, allegedly for their role in the agitation for wage revisions. The union, which the mutual fund doesn’t recognise, claims a membership of 550 officers out of the total strength of 1,200.
From Mumbai, the officers were transferred to places such as Jammu and Assam.
Their refusal to accept the transfers was followed by their suspensions, which led to a strike in August.
“A solution is being worked out whereby the officers would be reassigned, but not in the far-off places where they were originally transferred,” the person said.
The union is keen they be assigned within Mumbai, but the management has taken the stand that they could be transferred to nearby areas such as Pune and Kolhapur.
Spokespersons for UTI and the union declined to comment.
The mutual fund has seen labour disputes and a decline in assets under management (AUM) since its chairman and managing director, U K Sinha, left to head the Securities and Exchange Board of India in February.
According to media reports, the government is allegedly looking to place Jitesh Khosla, a bureaucrat, as UTI head. It has been pushing his case through the Life Insurance Corporation of India, State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda; each of which own 18.5% stake in UTI.
T Rowe Price, a US-based asset manager which holds 26% in the fund, however, wants a professional manager in Sinha’s place.
The mutual fund has slipped from fourth place to fifth in terms of quarterly average AUM. Its average AUM of Rs65,387.24 for the three months ended December 2010 has fallen to Rs62,579.86 crore in the latest September quarter.
A four-member committee comprising Jaideep Bhattacharya, chief marketing officer, I Rahman, chief finance officer, Anoop Bhaskar, head-equity, and Amandeep Chopra, head of fixed income, looks after the daily operations.
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