Noida: Told to take 'leave', workers protest outside OPPO/Xiaomi factory
What's the story
Protests erupted at a phone manufacturing unit in Noida on Thursday morning, after 200 workers in the factory were abruptly told to go on 'leave'.
More than a thousand workers, including those 200, gathered outside the plant to protest, but the agitation soon turned violent, when the workers started pelting stones at the building and damaged its windows.
Here are the details.
Details
What we know about the incident
The incident took place outside factory of Hipad Technology India, a Chinese company that makes smartphones for OPPO and Xiaomi in India.
When workers came to work, many of them could not get past the biometric entry system, sparking fears that they had been sacked.
The paranoia soon gripped the entire factory, and workers started hurling stones at the building, trapping the management, including some Chinese nationals, inside.
Police
Soon after, police arrived at the site of protest
Soon after, the police were called, and they visited the plant along with labor department officials.
Taking stock of the situation, labor officials observed that there had been a miscommunication and that the 200 workers had not been laid off.
Meanwhile, police said that neither the management nor the workers had filed any complaint so far.
No injuries were reported in the protest.
Miscommunication
So, what was the miscommunication about?
According to labor officials, the company hired factory workers through three contractors.
Earlier, these contractors had been asked by the company to reduce some workers as there were not enough raw materials.
However, the contractors had failed to do so, and the company then put up a list of 200 workers asking them to go on leave abruptly.
The workers reportedly misconstrued this as getting laid off.
Quote
What the assistant labor commissioner had to say
"The company had asked them to reduce their workers due to shortage of raw material. However, the vendors didn't do so. Today, they put up a list of 200 employees asking them to go on leave, which the workers mistook as firing," said Harish Chandra Singh, assistant labor commissioner (ALC).
What now?
The factory will resume work on Monday, with all workers
Things have reportedly settled down now.
However, owing to the building taking some damage, and owing to the tension between management and the workers, manufacturing in the plant has been halted up until Monday.
Labor officials will now monitor the situation, and reportedly have been told that all workers would be present when work resumes on Monday.