Mysuru: Due to shut down of Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting division in Mysuru on Tuesday owing to a sharp decline in demand for Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) and increasing preference for Light Emitting Diode (LED) products, the fate of 84 of its permanent employees some of them married who were working in the unit is in dire straits.
Most of the employees since Monday evening, are staging a protest in front of the unit demanding the management to not shut it down. The closure of the manufacturing unit which was established in 1998 resulted in the company offering voluntary retirement scheme for the remaining 84 workers. Wipro, admitting that the changing market and technology in the lighting business had rendered operations of its Mysuru unit commercially nonviable, had said the reduced demand for CFL saw the production at the Mysuru facility drop sharply over the past couple of years.
Dinesh, one of the employees said, “The company which came into existence in 1998, in a phased manner reduced the staff. To start with there were more than 600 but now there are just 84 employees. The founder of Wipro Azim Premji who by establishing the firm in Mysuru has provided us jobs and donated crores of rupees for the welfare of the people. NGOs should take a decision in this regard. We request the management to not shutdown the factory”.
A C Thamanna, Assistant Labour Commissioner said, “Due to economic non-viability, the management in the month of May itself, had written a letter to the government stating that the company was facing loss due to presence of LED bulbs. If there are more than 100 permanent workers, to shut down the company they should get permission from government but if the company is having permanent staff of less than 100, by just intimating the government and giving notice to the employees they can shut down the firm. On Wednesday, I had a meeting with the employees and union leaders. I will try arranging a meeting with the management and employees and try to solve the problem at the earliest.”
