Dear
Friends ,
Following
is my next story ( already posted at.......www.hemenparekh.in > Blogs
)
I
invite you to visit and post your comments / your own relevant experiences
while at L&T
regards,
hcp
PS
I
am sure , you are in touch with many other L&T-ites
I request you to pl forward this mail to all of them
I
have already sent this blog to ,
>
Shri Kalraj Mishra - Minister for MSME
>
Shri Bandaru Dattatreya , Minister for Labour & Employment
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
L&T Story - 2
Earlier
this month , General Motors announced its intention to close down its Halol (
Gujarat ) plant
That
would render some 1100 workers , " jobless "
News
reports say , Shri Amitabh Kant , Secretary - DIPP , called GM manager to
discuss this issue
We
will never know , what exactly Shri Kant told the GM manager
It
is possible that he said :
"
Just because you are shifting your operations to Talegaon , you cannot throw
1100 workers on the footpath !
GM
is employing some 220,000 workers across the globe
What
is so difficult for you to absorb these 1100 into your other factories ,
worldwide ? Who will believe you if you say , you cannot ?
You
must protect their jobs "
Neither
will we know what GM manager assured Shri Kant
But
that reminds me when L&T decided to stop manufacture of Diamond Core Drills
and Water Well Drills , at its Madh ( Mumbai ) factory , in 1979
At
that time , I was posted at L&T Powai Works as General Manager and
responsible for all negotiations / settlements with the Labour Union
When
they heard about Management decision , C S Nakhate and S V Naik ( Union leaders
) came to me to protest against Management decision to retrench 300 odd workers
They
said :
"
Who will believe that L&T cannot absorb 300 workers when it has a
work-force of some 7500 workers in Mumbai ? You must protect their jobs "
I
agreed not to retrench a single worker , on condition that each and every
worker , would accept ANY other job offered in Powai - after re-skilling
, if necessary
Eventually
, all workers rendered " work-less " were re-deployed in various
departments of L&T ( - including , at some out-station factories ) ,
without making any one " job-less " !
I
believe that a much more flexible labour law on retrenchment of workers , when
business is losing market , is the only assurance that employers would not
hesitate to employ a large number of workers when needed
But
it is equally - or even much more - important that Indian managers / employers
/ business owners , learn to treat workers as " Family Members " of a
joint family
A
younger brother who loses his job , is not thrown out of the family !
He
is supported by other working / earning members
If
Indian employers inculcate such an attitude , workers won't need protection of
labour laws
At
the same time , there is a crying need to reduce litigation under "
Industrial Disputes Act " , by removing from its purview , dismissals /
terminations of non-performing employees .
This
act should be limited to addressing only " Collective Disputes " and
non-performance related cases should be covered by simplified Model Standing
Orders
In
my own small company , I have personal experience of a group of my employees
accepting a 20 % salary-cut , in order to protect the job of a colleague , till
business revived !
Employees must be made to understand that such a temporary
sacrifice will enable a Company to ride out the bad times , when the only way
out is to reduce the manpower costs
They must be told :
" If you are not ready to accept a temporary sacrifice ,
Company will become
irreversibly sick and eventually , everyone will lose their jobs !
"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
hemen
parekh
22
Aug 2015
B2BmessageBlaster
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