Britannia to restart Delhi unit
Britannia to restart Delhi unit

Britannia Industries Ltd is planning to restart its operations at its biscuit manufacturing unit in the national capital after the contractual workers went on strike on 7th July 2014 demanding permanent employment status.

According to a senior official, “We are trying to restore normalcy and expect to start operating a production line by Friday, i.e. 18thJuly. The contract workers had blocked the entry of permanent employees into the factory, forcing the company to stop operations. We are in no position to negotiate as they are on contract basis.”

The company has termed the strike illegal and has stopped its production on July 7th at its Lawrence Road unit in Delhi.

Britannia has been using a mix of contract and permanent staff at the Delhi unit which ranged from 350-400 to 800-850 people depending on the production levels.

On the condition of anonymity, one of the workers, said, “There are 700-800 workers who work on contractual basis at the plant. There has been constant demand of making these contractual workers permanent, as contractual works do not get regular work days, holidays and sometimes even lose out on pay and other benefits that permanent workers get. Instead the company decided to sack 160 of the contractual workers. Most sacked employees have been working for seven-eight years on contract basis. This led all the contractual workers to go on strike.”

 
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