The employees of ABG, who are retrenched from service, have taken decision to move the Labour Court and Tribunal of West Bengal, days after the port equipment operator quit Bengal.The 600-odd workers of ABG claimed that they had strong grounds because Haldia Bulk Terminal (HBT) – a company jointly promoted by ABG of India and LDA of France – had violated an agreement which was valid for 10 years. The workers said they would plead before the Tribunal that they had been sacked within two years when the agreement between them and the management would have held good for 10 years.
HBT, which operated at mechanized berths two and eight at the Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) and handled five million tonnes of cargo per year, announced on Oct. 31 that it was quitting the State over “poor land and order” and “safety” concerns of its employees. Soon after HBT’s pull-out decision on Oct. 31, State Labour Minister Purnendu Bose had said that the cargo handling company had grossly violated the Labour Act by the way it had terminated its employees.
The Minister said since HDC did not come under the State Government’s jurisdiction, he would approach the Central Industrial Tribunal. He also resolved to write to Union labour minister Mallikarjun Kharge, seeking his intervention.
But the workers of ABG have decided to move the Tribunal which functions on quick disposal of industry and labour-related disputes, based on an order by the Regional Labour Commissioner. According to labour rules, any organization wishing to terminate more than 100 workers has to inform the Labour Commission 60 days in advance, which ABG hasn’t.
Mr. Utpal Bera, INTUC leader of Haldia Port, said: “The labourers were paid off with just two months’ wages and a Puja bonus. The money was credited to their bank accounts. But there was no word on the compensation they are entitled to due to the violation of the 10-year work agreement.” Mr. Bera further stated: “This is enough for an order in the workers’ favour.”
The retrenched workers are optimistic that they would find employment now that KoPT has sought fresh bids for the operations at the two berths. They are pinning their hopes on the new contractor giving them jobs. Both the berths are likely to be back in operation by March.
Problems had been brewing at Haldia Dock Complex (HDC), run by Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT), after berth operator HBT retrenched the first lot (275) of its workers saying they were surplus. Again on Nov. 3, the firm said: “HBT is left with no option but to retrench its 348 employees from today.”
The company also alleged that three of its senior employees were abducted and forced to leave the industrial town at gunpoint.
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