Sesa Sterlite will move court on the issue of suspending the services of 1,017 employees at its iron ore unit in Goa as its earnings have been severely impacted by the ban on mining activity since September 2012.
It will however continue to pay 50 per cent salary to the staff who will be ‘laid off’, as the employees will remain on the pay rolls, according to an official at the company.
‘We have issued notices to 1,017 of the total employees and will have to pursue the notice to its logical conclusion,’ a senior Sesa Sterlite spokesperson said.
Sesa Sterlite, which was one of the largest exporters of iron ore till mining was banned one-and-a-half years back, said that ‘it will continue having the staff on rolls but with 50 per cent salary’.
The company's lay off order was stalled by State and Union labour departments.
Sesa Sterlite has now decided to approach higher judiciary seeking the lay off as ‘the company has been suffering losses due to prolonged mining closure’.
According to the spokesperson, ‘the company stopped earning a single paisa from the iron ore mining and export business originating from Goa due to the mining ban’.
He said the company had issued lay off notices under section 5 (B) of Industrial Dispute Act in the first week of January, 2014. However, the move was opposed by labour unions, including All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), which had threatened strong action against the company, if workers are harassed.
‘As per the provisions of the Act, an employee can be laid off from the 61st day from the date of issue of notice or earlier, subject to the permission from the concerned state or central authorities,’ the spokesperson said. He claimed that at present all the employees are drawing full salary.
The Supreme Court had imposed the ban in Goa following a report of Justice M B Shah Commission on illegal mining in Goa. Mining industry in the state has virtually come to standstill following the ban.
Prior to mining ban, Sesa Sterlite had the capacity to produce about 15 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of iron ore from Goa and was the largest iron ore producer cum exporter from the state. The ban had led to company reporting a negative EBITDA of Rs 148 crore from the iron ore business during April-December period of the current fiscal.
As on March, 2013, Sesa Sterlite’s iron ore business had 3,857 employees and 2,497 contractual/temporary workers, according to the annual report of Sesa Goa for 2012-13. The company had pruned its employee strength by nearly 18 per cent in 2012-13 amid the mining bans in Goa and Karnataka.
ArcelorMittal to invest in Brazil for special steel
Luxembourg/ New Delhi: The world's largest steel-maker ArcelorMittal is investing $15 million at its Brazil facility to produce specialised high strength steel for automotive industry by next year.
‘ArcelorMittal is investing around $15 million in the production of advanced high strength steel at its Vega do Sul flat steel rolling mill in the state of Santa Catarina in southern Brazil,’ the company
said in a statement.
The plant's existing production lines will be equipped to produce Usibor, a press-hardened boron steel with an aluminium-silicon coating used mainly in the automotive industry. Using Usibor allows manufacturers to create lighter, safer and more environmentally friendly vehicles at an affordable cost.
‘With a strength of 1,500 MPa (Megapascal to show tensile strength) after hot-stamping, Usibor is one of the most resistant steels used in automotive applications, used mainly for the production of structural parts including A-pillars, B-pillars, frontal and rear bumpers, various types of rails, and the tunnel floor,’ it said.
‘Usibor has been imported from ArcelorMittal plants in Europe into Brazil since 2012; production in ArcelorMittal Vega do Sul is due to start in the second quarter of 2015,’ it said.
Hot rolled coils will continue to be produced at ArcelorMittal Tubarao in Espirito Santo, Brazil, and the patented aluminum-silicum coating will be applied at ArcelorMittal Vega do Sul. The $15 million investment is in line with the Brazilian government's Inovar-Auto stimulus programme, which seeks to encourage auto makers to invest in the Brazilian automotive industry and to produce more efficient, safer, and technology-advanced vehicles, the company said.
It will however continue to pay 50 per cent salary to the staff who will be ‘laid off’, as the employees will remain on the pay rolls, according to an official at the company.
‘We have issued notices to 1,017 of the total employees and will have to pursue the notice to its logical conclusion,’ a senior Sesa Sterlite spokesperson said.
Sesa Sterlite, which was one of the largest exporters of iron ore till mining was banned one-and-a-half years back, said that ‘it will continue having the staff on rolls but with 50 per cent salary’.
The company's lay off order was stalled by State and Union labour departments.
Sesa Sterlite has now decided to approach higher judiciary seeking the lay off as ‘the company has been suffering losses due to prolonged mining closure’.
According to the spokesperson, ‘the company stopped earning a single paisa from the iron ore mining and export business originating from Goa due to the mining ban’.
He said the company had issued lay off notices under section 5 (B) of Industrial Dispute Act in the first week of January, 2014. However, the move was opposed by labour unions, including All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), which had threatened strong action against the company, if workers are harassed.
‘As per the provisions of the Act, an employee can be laid off from the 61st day from the date of issue of notice or earlier, subject to the permission from the concerned state or central authorities,’ the spokesperson said. He claimed that at present all the employees are drawing full salary.
The Supreme Court had imposed the ban in Goa following a report of Justice M B Shah Commission on illegal mining in Goa. Mining industry in the state has virtually come to standstill following the ban.
Prior to mining ban, Sesa Sterlite had the capacity to produce about 15 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of iron ore from Goa and was the largest iron ore producer cum exporter from the state. The ban had led to company reporting a negative EBITDA of Rs 148 crore from the iron ore business during April-December period of the current fiscal.
As on March, 2013, Sesa Sterlite’s iron ore business had 3,857 employees and 2,497 contractual/temporary workers, according to the annual report of Sesa Goa for 2012-13. The company had pruned its employee strength by nearly 18 per cent in 2012-13 amid the mining bans in Goa and Karnataka.
ArcelorMittal to invest in Brazil for special steel
Luxembourg/ New Delhi: The world's largest steel-maker ArcelorMittal is investing $15 million at its Brazil facility to produce specialised high strength steel for automotive industry by next year.
‘ArcelorMittal is investing around $15 million in the production of advanced high strength steel at its Vega do Sul flat steel rolling mill in the state of Santa Catarina in southern Brazil,’ the company
said in a statement.
The plant's existing production lines will be equipped to produce Usibor, a press-hardened boron steel with an aluminium-silicon coating used mainly in the automotive industry. Using Usibor allows manufacturers to create lighter, safer and more environmentally friendly vehicles at an affordable cost.
‘With a strength of 1,500 MPa (Megapascal to show tensile strength) after hot-stamping, Usibor is one of the most resistant steels used in automotive applications, used mainly for the production of structural parts including A-pillars, B-pillars, frontal and rear bumpers, various types of rails, and the tunnel floor,’ it said.
‘Usibor has been imported from ArcelorMittal plants in Europe into Brazil since 2012; production in ArcelorMittal Vega do Sul is due to start in the second quarter of 2015,’ it said.
Hot rolled coils will continue to be produced at ArcelorMittal Tubarao in Espirito Santo, Brazil, and the patented aluminum-silicum coating will be applied at ArcelorMittal Vega do Sul. The $15 million investment is in line with the Brazilian government's Inovar-Auto stimulus programme, which seeks to encourage auto makers to invest in the Brazilian automotive industry and to produce more efficient, safer, and technology-advanced vehicles, the company said.