Amﬂºƒˆ \VWÈ ∂´E>µ

La Gazette de L' État de Poudouchéry

The Gazette of Puducherry

∂]ÔV´D ÿ√u≈ ÿkπX|

Publiée par Autorité

Published by Authority

ÿ√VÚ·¶¬ÔD

SOMMAIRES

CONTENTS

√¬ÔD

Page

∂´∑ ∂§s¬ÁÔÔ^

226

Notifications du Gouvernement

.. 226

Government Notifications

.. 226

ƒVu≈§¬ÁÔÔ^

229

Annonces

.. 229

Announcements

229

Registered with the Registrar

of Newspapers for India

under No. 10410

Registered No. PY/44/2021-23

[ 225 ]

®ı

Amﬂºƒˆ

ÿƒÀkVF¬˛wÁ\

2021 }

Û[ |

15 {

No.

Poudouchéry

Mardi

Juin

2021 (25 Jyaistha 1943)

No.

Puducherry

Tuesday

15th

June

2021

226

LA GAZETTE DE L’ETAT

[15 June 2021

GOVERNMENT OF PUDUCHERRY

LABOUR DEPARTMENT

No. 1904/Lab./AIL/T/2021/686.

Puducherry, the 27th May 2021.

ORDER

Whereas, the management of M/s. Suolificio Linea

Italia (India) Pvt. Ltd., Sedarapet, Puducherry, has

submitted an application in Form PA, dated 26-03-2021

(recd on 29-03-2021) to the Secretary to Government,

Labour Department, Puducherry, seeking permission to

retrench 62 workmen out of 204 workmen with effect

from 26-06-2021 under section 25-N of the Industrial

Disputes Act, 1947, read with Rule 76-A of the Industrial

Disputes (Central) Rules, 1957;

And whereas, on perusal of the retrenchment

application, dated 26-03-2021 (recd on 29-03-2021), it is

observed that the Management has stated various

reasons for seeking permission to retrench 62 workmen

as detailed below;-

(i) The financial position of the company has

already been in the negative side i.e., minus ` 179.08

lakhs as on 31-01-2021 (provisional) and it has

deteriorated and the company is not able to pay the

salaries on time and do not have enough resources

to meet its salary expenses and suppliers.

(ii) The anticipated savings due to the proposed

retrenchment is ` 81.59 lakhs CTC per annum. The

staff strength has been reduced during 2019-20 till

Jan’ 2021 and the cost saving is ` 89.53 lakhs and

the company is planning to reduce the power

sanctioned load from 700 KVA to 600 KVA and

planning to operate only 35 stations and 2 conveyors

and the estimated savings will be around ` 10 lakhs

per annum. The company is planning to shut down

its Kolkata Office which will save ` 10 lakhs per

annum.

(iii) The company mainly deals with European

Countries and its market and most of the countries

in Europe have undergone negative growth for the

last 5 years or more and have been cutting down on

the fashion based goods. The trend has moved from

leather durable products which India supplies to

synthetic upper shoes which are cheaper and India

has no position on the same compared to China,

Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Many new small

players have come up and their cost is low and the

management is not able to compete with them.

(iv) While so, the COVID-19 pandemic has

pushed the company to the edge. The company does

not have any orders on hand and the possibility of

getting orders is very remote. Though, the situation

warrants total closure of the business, the

management for the time being has decided to reduce

the manpower by retrenching some of its workmen.

(v) The management has incurred a loss of around

280 lakhs in the year 2018-19 and its Bank borrowing

has gone up from 350 lakhs to 1900 lakhs and it has

huge burden of bank liability and is unable to service

the interest.

And whereas, on summarizing the above reasons,

change in fashion based goods, financial loss and

COVID-19 pandemic are the reasons for the proposed

retrenchment;

And whereas, as per sub-section (3) of section 25-N

of the Act, the ‘appropriate Government or the specified

authority’ after making an enquiry and after giving a

reasonable opportunity of being heard to the employer,

the workmen concerned and the persons interested in

such retrenchment may, having regard to the

genuineness and adequacy of the reasons stated by the

employer, the interests of the workmen and all other

relevant factors, by order and for reasons to be recorded

in writing, grant or refuse to grant such permission and

a copy of such order shall be communicated to the

employer and the workmen;

And whereas, as per G.O. Ms. No. l77/80-Lab., dated

1st September 1980, the Secretary to Government,

Labour Department, Puducherry, is the specified

authority to exercise the powers and perform the

functions of the Government in connection with grant

of permission for lay-off and retrenchment under the

said sections;

And whereas, as per sub-section (3) of section 25-N

of the Act, the specified authority conducted an enquiry

and afforded adequate opportunity to the individual

62 workmen, representatives of Trade Unions and

employer representatives;

And whereas, during the enquiry held before the

Secretary (Labour), the individual workmen/Union

representatives put forth the following objections for

the retrenchment application submitted in Form PA,

dated 26-03-2021 (recd on 29-03-2021) and also filed their

written objections:-

(i) The management has not followed the

seniority while submitting the retrenchment

proposal;

(ii) The management has proposed to retrench

permanent workmen and engage contract workmen in

their place;

(iii) To evade the charter of demands/wage

revision submitted by the workmen and to curtail the

Trade Union activities;

227

15 June 2021]

LA GAZETTE DE L’ETAT

(iv) The designation and date of joining has been

wrongly mentioned for many workmen;

(v) At Sl. No.3 of Annexure to Form PA, the wages

drawn by the proposed retrenchment workers has

been wrongly mentioned;

(vi) Transfer orders have been issued by the

management, by transferring the senior most

employees from one section to another, so as to

include them in the retrenchment proposal;

(vii) The workmen have achieved the targets fixed

by the management and received the incentive cash

benefits and therefore, denied that there were

financial losses;

(viii) The management informed that the export

prospects is bleak arid there is decline in export

orders but, expanding the business in Agra by

retrenching the workmen in Puducherry Unit and has

proposed to utilize the idle machineries of

Puducherry Unit in Agra;

(ix) The Hon’ble Labour Court passed an Award

in I.D (L) No. 24/2012, dated 24-02-2016 directing, the

management of M/s. Suolificio Linea Italia (India) Pvt.

Ltd., Sedarapet, Puducherry, to reinstate 12 workers

with 50 % back wages and with continuity of service

and other benefits. But, the management had offered

employment to them as fresh appointees in the year

2016 and included them in the retrenchment proposal;

(x) The senior most employees Tmt. S.Kavitha,

V.Sathya, M.Geetha, K. Geetha and D. Ramila were

transferred from the Housekeeping Section to

Finishing Section and included their names in the

retrenchment proposal. And the junior most employees

Thiru A. Karunanidhi and Tmt. A. Kalaiselvi were

retained in the housekeeping Section and not

included in the retrenchment proposal;

(xi) The senior most Union members were

included in the retrenchment proposal and the junior

most non-Union members were not included in the

retrenchment proposal;

(xii) The junior most employee Thiru Sundar

Rajan who joined in the year 2017 was designated

as ‘Incharge’ and not included in the proposal;

(xiii) The management increased the station

from 72 to 100 during the retrenchment proposal;

(xiv) The asset value has increased from ` 51.81 Cr.

to ` 69.4 Cr. for the last 3 years.

(xv) The cost of benefits provided to the

employees is not constant and it has drastically

increased in proportion to the quantum of

production;

(xvi) The management insisted them to withdraw

all legal cases pending before various Forums/Courts

so as to consider their charter of demands/wage

revision. But, the Union had proceeded legally and

therefore, the management has submitted the

retrenchment proposal to threaten the Union;

(xvii) The management filed letter informing the

Union to give full corporation to retrench the

permanent workmen and to engage contract workmen

to the extent of 25 % of the total workforce.

And whereas, the management filed reply statement,

dated 20-05-2021 for the objections put forth by the

individual workmen/Union and denied the allegations

raised by them. The reply furnished by the management

is as follows:-

(i) They had preferred Writ Petition No. 26510 of

2017 before the Hon’ble High Court, Madras against

the Award passed by the Hon’ble Labour Court,

Puducherry and obtained interim orders of stay on

back wages;

(ii) The management denied the allegations raised

by the Union over withdrawal of all cases as the

Union had not filed the copy of entire letter of the

management and they had insisted to unconditionally

withdraw only cases pertaining to bonus, removal of

machineries, payment on increments, wage revision,

confirmation order, etc;

(iii) The management stated that continuous

running does not mean that the company is running

entire station or is having huge volumes and orders

but, it is required to have less rejection of materials;

(iv) The company he is started its Agra plant in

the year 2017 itself and it has nothing to do with the

retrenchment application. The management wanted to

give first chance to the senior workmen of Puducherry

plant, to Agra plant as it will lead to their career

growth;

(v) With regard to asset increase the management

replied that year on year due to decrease in business

the investment in moulds have also automatically

decreased;

(iv) In the year 2018-19, the output was low and

materials cost was higher. But, in the year 2017-18

output was higher, but, the material cost was low.

There was an increase in the price of raw materials

by 18%. The material consumption was on higher

side because of 10% to 15% rejection done by the

workmen and the materials cost was also higher

because the Company had also liquidated nearly

200T of rejected soles by selling at 50% of the price

of raw material to its supplier;

228

LA GAZETTE DE L’ETAT

[15 June 2021

(v) The management denied the proposal of 25%

contractual staff as it was only a proposal and they

employ contract employees in Housekeeping and

Finishing only. They had reduced the contract work

force from 126 (2017-18) to 22 (2020-21). If, the

contract staffs are not allowed, they will be forced

to close the entire Department if, required as it will

be cheaper to outsource the function than to do it

themselves;

(vi) The managemet denied the number of stations

given by the workmen as only 35 stations are used

out of 72 stations due to very poor order station;

(vii) There is no difference between the Union and

non-Union members and does not know the union

members/officer bearers;

(viii) The Department wise seniority list is

maintained. The transfer of workmen from one

Department to another Department is a basic protocol

and has been done to safeguard the interests of

persons who replaced majority of contractual

employees. The date considered for the purpose of

retrenchment is their original date of joining and not

the date of transfer. The company has maintained the

seniority list and is following last in first out method

for retrenchment.

(ix) The management has filed the wages removing

the bonus and gratuity portion from CTC;

(x) The southern part of India is more organised

and caters only to export market. While northern part

of India is unorganised and caters mainly to the

domestic demand of shoes for India. For tapping the

market, the company has opened a factory at Agra

which is not possible to serve from Puducherry.

While the Agra expansion happened, the capacity of

Puducherry was not reduced, rather the company has

invested in more latest machines for the Puducherry

plant.

(xi) The company could not achieve its targeted

goals and thereby has decided to reduce its business

plan to 3.5 million pairs. Therefore, it does not need

the installed capacity and the workmen. By

retrenching 60 workmen, the balance 200 people

could be saved otherwise the company will be forced

to shut the entire plant. The management has

furnished the profit numbers as per the balance sheet

indicating 6.89% return on capital employee, for the

year 2015-16, 6.58 % (2016-17), 2.14 % (2017-18), -

16.24 (2018-19) & 0.09 (2019-20). But, there must be

atleast 15 % return to run a business with so much

trouble and pain.

And whereas, the individual workmen concerned, the

representative of Trade Union and the employer

representatives

were

heard

and

all

petitions/

representations/documents/reply

statement

were

considered and it is observed that the principle for

retrenchment ‘last come first go’ has not been followed

while submitting the retrenchment application in

Form PA, dated 26-03-2021 (recd on 29-03-2021);

And whereas, as per section 25-G of the Industrial

Disputes Act, 1947, where any workman in an industrial

establishment, who is a citizen of India, is to be

retrenched and he belongs to particular category of

workmen in that establishment, in the absence of any

agreement between the employer and the workman in

this behalf, the employer shall ordinarily retrench the

workman who was the last person to be employed in

that category, unless for reasons to be recorded the

employer retrenches any other workmen. But, the

management has submitted the retrenchment application

with section-wise seniority and not category wise

seniority;

And whereas, few senior most employees were

transferred from one section to another with change in

their category/designation reckoning the original date

of joining and not the date of transfer. But, however he

is the senior most employee in his original place/section

prior to transfer and though reckoning the original date

of joining, he is a junior employee in the new section;

And whereas, the management transferred the senior

most Housekeeping employees Tmt. S.Kavitha,

V.Sathya, M. Geetha, K. Geetha and D. Ramila from

Housekeeping section to Finishing section as ‘Helper’

category and included their names in the retrenchment

proposal. The junior most employee Tmt. A. Kalaiselvi

was retained in the Housekeeping Section and not

included in the retrenchment proposal. The transfers

have been executed so to give effect to the

retrenchment proposal;

And whereas, at Pt. 15 (Annexure-14 of the

management) at Sl. No. 23 of Annexure to Form PA, the

management stated that as per ICRA, Indian Footwear

Industry will witness a revenue drop to the extent 10-15 %

in financial year 2021 and there will not only be a drop

in volumes but, also on the average selling price which

will also have an impact on the component suppliers.

The management had filed letter, dated 11-11-2019

before the Labour Officer (Conciliation), that they

propose to offer an incentive of ` 700 per week on

achievement of 90% and above of the weekly production

plan above the minimum of despatchable quantity of

75,000 pairs /week. On perusal of Annexure-6 (A) of

Form PA-Financial position of the company, it is

ascertained that the management has despatched

continuously more than 3,00,000 pairs from the years

2014-15 till 2019-20 and therefore, the workers had

achieved production over and above the targets fixed

by the management and there was no drop in volumes

as stated by the management in the reasons for the

retrenchment proposal;

229

15 June 2021]

LA GAZETTE DE L’ETAT

And whereas, at Pt. 19 (Annexure-14 of the

management) at Sl. No. 23 of Annexure to Form PA, the

management has incurred a loss of around 280 lakhs in

the year 2018-19 and its Bank borrowing has gone up

from 350 lakhs to 1900 lakhs and it has huge burden

of Bank liability and is unable to service the interest.

Per Contra, on perusal of Part-II, Statement of Profit

and Loss Accounts, it is ascertained that the

management had incurred loss for an amount of

` 2,79,00,730 only for the year ended 31st March’ 2019.

Whereas, the management yielded profit of ` 28,14,931

during the year ended 31st March’ 2020. It is also

ascertained that the management had continuously

yielded profits for the year ended 31st March’ 2017, 31st

March’ 2018 and 31st March’ 2020. Only for the year

ended 31st March 2019, loss has been arrived. On

accumulating the accounts statement for the years

2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, it is ascertained that the

company has yielded an overall profit before paying tax;

And whereas, at Sl. No. 12 of Annexure to Form PA,

the management has stated that the financial position

of the company has already been in the negative side

i.e., minus ` 179.08 Lakhs as on 31-01-2021 (provisional)

and it has deteriorated and the company is not able to

pay the salaries on time and do not have enough

resources to meet its salary expenses and suppliers. The

management has furnished the financial position of the

company after deducting the profit after tax. But, the

financial position i.e., net worth needs to be assessed

based on the assets and liabilities as certified by the

statutory Auditor;

And whereas, a joint inspection was conducted on

11-05-2021 in the management of M/s. Suolificio Linea

Italia (India) Pvt. Ltd., Sedarapet, Puducherry and it was

ascertained that the management has obtained Principal

Employer Registration Certification No. 03/2015/CL/

Regn, dated 17-08-2015 under the Contract Labour

(Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 to engage 40 Nos.

of contract labourers through M/s. Arasu Consultancy,

No. 6, Mariamman Koil Street, Sedarapet, Puducherry

and M/s. Sri Ramanujam Manpower Agencies, No. 44,

10th Cross, Brindavanam, Puducherry. But, during

inspection it was observed that M/s. Arasu Consultancy

and M/s. Alpha alliances have been engaged. Further,

Registration Certificate permits the Principal Employer

to engage contract labourers in the works of Loading

and Unloading and Housekeeping. Whereas, the

contract labourers have been engaged in the works of

Cleaning, Trimming, Checking, Packing and Cutting in

the Finishing department without obtaining necessary

license from the authorities;

And whereas, the management has submitted the

retrenchment proposal to retrench 22 workmen in

Finishing Section and has engaged contract labourers

in the place of permanent workmen in Finishing Section

as per the inspection report;

And whereas, the management had itself agreed in

their reply statement, dated 20-05-2021 that it had

engaged 126 contract workmen for the year 2017-18 and

decreased to 22 contract workmen for the year 2020-21,

thereby engaged contract labourers without obtaining

necessary

licence

under

the

Contract

Labour

(Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970;

And whereas, the management had also agreed in

their reply statement, dated 20-05-2021 that they had

insisted to unconditionally withdraw only cases

pertaining to bonus, removal of machineries, payment

on increments, wags revision, confirmation order, etc.,

and filed proof of the letter, dated 14-02-2020 filed by

the management before the Labour Officer (Conciliation)

and it is clearly established that the management had

submitted this proposal to curtail the Trade Union

activities;

Now, therefore, in exercise of the authority delegated

vide G.O. Ms. No. 177/80-Lab., dated 1st September, 1980

of the Labour Department to exercise the powers

conferred by sub-section (1) of section 25-N of the

Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (Central Act 14 of 1947)

the Secretary to Government (Labour) hereby rejects the

retrenchment application in Form PA, dated 26-03-2021

(recd on 29-03-2021) in respect of M/s. Suolificio Linea

Italia (India) Pvt. Ltd., Sedarapet, Puducherry, to

retrench 62 workmen with effect from 26-06-2021.

E. VALLAVAN, I.A.S.,

Secretary to Government (Labour).

AFFIDAVIT

I, A. Marie Antoine Athisayam, son of Annusamy,

Christian, aged 50 years, residing at No. 178, Saint

Rozario Street, Muthialpet, Puducherry-605 003,

do hereby solemnly and sincerely affim and state as

follows:

That I am the deponent herein and making this

affidavit on behalf of me.

I state that my name is entered as ‘A Marie

Antoine Athisayam’ in my Aadhaar Card bearing

No. 6948 2994 5597 issued by Unique Identification

Authority of India.

I state that my name is entered as ‘A Maria

Antoine Athisayam’ in my Consolidated Marks-cum-

Grade Sheet issued by Controller of Examinations,

Saint Joseph’s College (Autonomous), Tiruchirapalli.

I state that the above names described in the

above records as ‘A Marie Antoine Athisayam’ and

‘A Maria Antoine Athisayam’ are referred one and the

same person i.e., me, the deponent herein.