As the country celebrated Diwali with lights, crackers and sweets, over 240 employees at Wipro India Ltd’s ghee and soap manufacturing unit at Amalner in Jalgaon refused breakfast and meals served to them in the factory last week. They have also planned an indefinite strike from November 4 to protest against the company’s decision to not raise their salaries for the past 10 years.
“It has been a dark Diwali for us. We rejected the sweets offered by the company and did not attend Laxmi puja either. We are going through difficult times while the Wipro group, which originated from this company, is reaping dividends,” said Rastriya Vanaspati Shramik Sangh secretary VN Mujawar, who is spearheading the protest.
The Amalner plant was founded by Wipro chairman Azim Premji’s father Hussain in 1945. It was the first plant set up by the group. Now, the group faces a major revolt from its employees who have started wearing black bands saying the administration is turning a deaf ear to their demands — a substantial hike in salary and linking their wages to dearness allowance.
Mujawar pointed out that people with MSc degrees who have been working at the plant for a decade are only drawing Rs7,000 per month.
“The group is neglecting this plant from where its success story began. At one time, there were more than 700 employees working in the factory, but today there are only 240 staffers,” said Mujawar. “There has been no recruitment since 1990. Our salaries have not been revised since the past decade. We have not even been getting dearness allowance.”
Rajendra Patil who works at the plant says he struggles to pay his son’s tuition fees. “This Diwali, we had no money to celebrate. We could not buy anything. I am reeling under heavy debt. I have been borrowing money to repay earlier loans and the mountain of debt is only getting bigger,” said Patil.
Professor Ashok Pawar, a social activist from Amalner, backed the employees’ strike. “Wipro brought name and fame to this small town. It is my humble request to Mr Premji to look into this matter, bring back smiles on the faces of the workers and restore the glory of Amalner,” he said.
Factory manager Vinay Varma refused to comment saying he was not authorised to speak with the media. Human resources manager Sudhir Mule, too, gave the same excuse.
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