Dispute Torn MRF Factory Given Week to Re-Open

The government in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu may assume control of the MRF Ltd tyre manufacturing plant in Tiruvottiyur, near Chennai, if the company does not promptly re-open it. The facility has been closed since last December, following industrial disputes in which MRF accused its employees of “indiscipline and being unable to meet productivity norms.”

“The MRF management should find a solution to the labour problem in its units within a week’s time,” electricity minister Arcot N. Veerasamy told the Tamil Nadu state legislative assembly on January 30. He said that the Tamil Nadu chief minister, M. Karunanidhi, would intervene to find an amicable solution, adding that “if no solution was found even then, the government would take over the unit.”

In response, a spokesperson from MRF told media “it is too early to comment on what the state government has said. It is only a local issue pertaining to the Tiruvottiyur branch. The state minister himself has said that they will wait for one more week and see whether the problem in the local branch of MRF is resolved.”