Mgmt move gives new hope to Century workers

It was the last mill of repute that had shut down in Central Mumbai.

Four months down the line, the Kumarmangalam Birla-owned Century Textiles mills decision to close down the factory at Worli has hit a road block.

The mill management on Friday withdrew its application before the Labour Commission, to close the factory. The decision (to withdraw the closure application) was taken following Labour Minister Ganesh Naik’s suggestion, at a recent meeting with Sarva Shramik Sanghatana, workers union to amicably resolve the grievances of 277 workers, who had refused the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) offered by the management.

The management’s move saw elated workers distributing sweets and throwing gulal in the air, in anticipation of the defunct factory running again. Terming the move as a victory for the workers, Sanghatana’s Secretary Uday Bhat said: “We had challenged the mills closure (before the Labour Commission) on the ground that the factory is running profitably.” The workers had further demanded that they should be allowed to continue working till the retirement age of 63.

The workers’ victory albeit, is temporary. The mill management is firm against reopening the mill. Says President of Century Mills RK Dalmia: “It will not be possible for us to run the loss-making unit (Rs200 crore in the past five years) again. While no dateline has been set, we will be requesting the Labour Commission to call a meeting at the earliest, to redress the workers’ grievances (workers are also demanding higher VRS). If we find a solution in a reasonable time (2-3 meetings), then good otherwise we will have to again seek the government’s permission to close the unit.”