Employees of Nokia India working at the Sriperumbudur plant resorted to a one-day hunger strike in Chennai on Monday on fear of job cut due to delay in the transfer of Chennai plant to Microsoft.
The Nokia India factory near Chennai is at the heart of a ₹21,000-crore income-tax dispute between the company and the Government. This has stalled the transfer of asset to Microsoft leaving over 8,000 workers at the factory in limbo. The Tamil Nadu Government has also slapped a sales tax claim of ₹2,400 crore on the company.
The company had earlier said it may opt for manpower reduction at its manufacturing plant in Sriperumbudur near Chennai, due to the prevailing uncertainty over the income-tax dispute following which the IT authorities froze the assets last year.
Earlier, Finnish handset maker Nokia had said that its $7.2-billion deal with software giant Microsoft is expected to be delayed by a month and will now be finalised by April due to pending regulatory approvals from some antitrust authorities in Asia.
The handset maker, which is facing multiple tax cases in India, added that the proceedings in the country will not affect the timing of the deal.
Workers at Nokia India factory will either remain with the Finnish handset manufacturer or Microsoft Corp, which has acquired Nokia globally, but will not accept any interim arrangement, according to the Nokia India Thozhilalar Sangam, the workers’ union.
The workers will not accept retrenchment, closure, or the plant operating as a sub-contractor to Microsoft, A Soundararajan, General Secretary, Centre of Indian Trade Unions, Tamil Nadu, who heads the independent union, had earlier said.
In the last few months, production at the facility has been badly hit, and the manufacturing has been diverted to Nokia’s plants at Vietnam and China. The factory has reduced its working hours from three shifts to two.
Source Nokia Chennai plant employees go on one-day hunger strike | Business Line - The Hindu Business Line : Mobile Edition
The Nokia India factory near Chennai is at the heart of a ₹21,000-crore income-tax dispute between the company and the Government. This has stalled the transfer of asset to Microsoft leaving over 8,000 workers at the factory in limbo. The Tamil Nadu Government has also slapped a sales tax claim of ₹2,400 crore on the company.
The company had earlier said it may opt for manpower reduction at its manufacturing plant in Sriperumbudur near Chennai, due to the prevailing uncertainty over the income-tax dispute following which the IT authorities froze the assets last year.
Earlier, Finnish handset maker Nokia had said that its $7.2-billion deal with software giant Microsoft is expected to be delayed by a month and will now be finalised by April due to pending regulatory approvals from some antitrust authorities in Asia.
The handset maker, which is facing multiple tax cases in India, added that the proceedings in the country will not affect the timing of the deal.
Workers at Nokia India factory will either remain with the Finnish handset manufacturer or Microsoft Corp, which has acquired Nokia globally, but will not accept any interim arrangement, according to the Nokia India Thozhilalar Sangam, the workers’ union.
The workers will not accept retrenchment, closure, or the plant operating as a sub-contractor to Microsoft, A Soundararajan, General Secretary, Centre of Indian Trade Unions, Tamil Nadu, who heads the independent union, had earlier said.
In the last few months, production at the facility has been badly hit, and the manufacturing has been diverted to Nokia’s plants at Vietnam and China. The factory has reduced its working hours from three shifts to two.
Source Nokia Chennai plant employees go on one-day hunger strike | Business Line - The Hindu Business Line : Mobile Edition
