Trade unions of the English Indian Clays Ltd (EICL) in the district, which halted operations on August 10, have sought urgent State government intervention to allow the company to resume extraction of China clay so that it can restart operations.
The CITU, INTUC and BMS unions of EICL have submitted a joint petition in this regard to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan, and Labour Minister T.P. Ramakrishnan.
The livelihood of 1,500 families had been imperilled with the EICL management suspending operations at its Veli and Thonnackal units on August 10 citing heavy losses and shortage of China clay, District Clay Workers’ Union (CITU), English Indian Clay Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), and English Indian Clays Workers’ Congress (INTUC) said in the petition.
The State government should initiate urgent steps to issue a licence to EICL for mining clay from a five-acre mine at Thonnackal, the unions said. The Thapar Group company had been facing difficulties in procuring raw material for the past two years. Moreover, the company had closed down the facilities on the eve of the scheduled date for the payment of bonus to the employees, they alleged.
Earlier, the High Court had ordered the EICL to stop mining operations at Veyloor village in Thiruvananthapuram district. In their petition to the government, the trade unions pointed out that, subsequently, the company was accorded environment clearance to mine clay in the five acres at Thonnackal for one year from October 2019. However, the Director, Mining and Geology, was yet to issue the mining licence, they said.
In 2019, the employees had launched an indefinite strike after the management suspended operations on November 30 that year citing losses and raw material shortage. At the time, the unions had alleged that the company was trying to avoid signing a long-term agreement on pay revision. The labour dispute was finally settled and the company reopened after the agreement was signed.
The EICL management has cited similar reasons for the latest shutdown. The unions have also sought government intervention to ensure prompt payment of bonus to the EICL employees.
