Express Buzz reported that a strike in Kerala holding to ransom the smooth production of T-90 battle tanks engaged in the defence of the country is something even the trade unions of Kerala are feeling embarrassed about.
The supply chain of the T-90 tank production at the Heavy Vehicles Factory at Avadi has been breached at the Aditya Birla group company Hindalco Industries Limited’s Kalamassery facility near Kochi and the defence department officials are now worried that they may have to resort to costly imports resulting in a drain on the country’s FOREX reserves.
An embargo by its 200 strong workforce on the movement of finished products from the Hindalco unit on December 23 and the ensuing decision of the company management to stop production on January 4 have resulted in 50 tonnes of finished special grade aluminum alloy being blockaded. Another 50 tonnes of the aluminum alloy that should’ve gone out in January never could reach the production stage because of the ongoing strike.
A senior officer at the Department of Defence said that the Kerala unit is the only source of AK6 aluminum alloy indigenously. It then goes in for value addition at Bharat Forge, Pune, before being sent to Avadi as a vital component for the making of wheels for the T-90 battle tanks. The ongoing strike in Kerala has ensured that the entire supply chain has been disrupted. Since there is a long lead time in battle tank production, it won’t be correct to say that T-90 production has been held up. But the supply chain has dried up and the crisis will manifest itself quite soon unless the supply resumes from Kerala. We are pulling out all stops to see the issue is resolved immediately.
The state government swung into action after Mr Elamaram Kareem Industry Minister was apprised of the situation by the defence department officials a few days back.
Mr Kareem said that “I became aware of the gravity of the situation only last week when officers from the Avadi plant came and explained to me what was at stake. I am persuading the striking trade unions and the management to settle the issue when they meet for a wage settlement meeting on Thursday at Thiruvananthapuram. Labour Minister P K Gurudasan and I will attend the meeting.”
Mr K M Gopinathan district joint secretary of CITU said that the issue may not be that easily settled as there are three trade unions in action at Hindalco. The wage settlement is overdue by over a year and the demand is for an upward revision in monthly wages by INR 8,000. But the unions may be willing to settle at an increment of INR 4,500 or so. We realized only now that the strike is impacting the production of battle tanks for the country. We hope the pending lot of 50 tonnes will be dispatched tomorrow itself. However, attempts within the union ranks to effect the release of 50 tonnes ahead of the Thursday talks have not borne fruit.
Last month, a team from Bharat Forge had called on the striking workers at Hindalco and pleaded with them on lifting the blockade but could not succeed. A senior manager at Bharat Forge, involved in the negotiations, said that they did not want to discuss the matter with the media. There is nothing new about a striking workforce and the inevitable battle of wits with the management when the field of action is Kerala.
According to the statistics available with the state government, as many as 0.173 million man days were lost in 15 strikes in 2010. But this is the first time that such a strike is impacting something as critical as the smooth rollout of the country’s battle tanks. And it has certainly left a number of people involved in it red faced.
（Sourced from expressbuzz.com）
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