By IANS,
Trissur (Kerala) : The Apollo Tyres management, which declared a lockout at its Perambara unit near here over a labour dispute, now wants the Kerala government to intervene, a senior company official said Monday.
“We feel it is only the labour ministry in the state that can intervene and settle the issue, because even after making an additional capital investment of Rs.150 million three months ago, production has not gone up,” the official told IANS requesting anonymity.
The Apollo Tyres Management declared a lockout at 1 a.m. Aug 16 after workers went on a strike two days earlier.
In a statement issued here Monday, Apollo Tyres said it was not left with any other option when workers refused to begin work Aug 14 and resorted to an “illegal and unjustified strike”, bringing sections of the manufacturing process to a halt.
“To enable us to tide over the current high natural rubber, crude, crude-based raw material, transportation and energy costs, despite negotiations with the unions for the past few months, there has been no solution and the unions have taken a negative and non-cooperative attitude to any production increases, despite the offer of production-linked monetary benefits and incentives,” the statement said.
Currently, there are 2,700 employees at this unit.