ushma87star
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THE SHIV SENA WANTS MORE JOBS FOR THE SONS OF THE SOIL
When the MUMBAI-BASED Shiv Sena recently announced it would push for 80 per cent reservations of jobs for locals in malls and BPO outfits, few were surprised. After all, the political party came to power in the recent municipal elections in Mumbai on the plank of the welfare of the Marathi manoos (man). And that agenda has been the party’s favourite since the 60s. But when the party’s trade union, the Bharatiya Kamgar Sena (BKS), picketed and shut down operations of three outlets of retail chain Big Bazaar for a couple of hours last fortnight, more than a few eyebrows were raised in the business community. The bone of contention was the axing of 120 employees on probation. “We are against the firing of employees who have worked for more than six months. Companies do not have the right to sack employees overnight,” says BKS General Secretary Kiran Pawaskar, who claims that the management of Big Bazaar was trying to break “the unity of employees”.
Pawasker also says that malls like Big Bazaar were not hiring enough locals. Big Bazaar, however, says that the company had retrenched “probationary employees” because of “excess manpower” on its mall floors. However, bowing to pressure from the unions, the company has taken back the fired employees. Says Kishore Biyani, Chairman, Future Group (which promotes Big Bazaar): “Today everybody wants growth. The days of treating employees like factory workers are gone. I hope everybody understands that.” The BKS meantime is training its sights on the hospitality, aviation and BPO sectors.
When the MUMBAI-BASED Shiv Sena recently announced it would push for 80 per cent reservations of jobs for locals in malls and BPO outfits, few were surprised. After all, the political party came to power in the recent municipal elections in Mumbai on the plank of the welfare of the Marathi manoos (man). And that agenda has been the party’s favourite since the 60s. But when the party’s trade union, the Bharatiya Kamgar Sena (BKS), picketed and shut down operations of three outlets of retail chain Big Bazaar for a couple of hours last fortnight, more than a few eyebrows were raised in the business community. The bone of contention was the axing of 120 employees on probation. “We are against the firing of employees who have worked for more than six months. Companies do not have the right to sack employees overnight,” says BKS General Secretary Kiran Pawaskar, who claims that the management of Big Bazaar was trying to break “the unity of employees”.
Pawasker also says that malls like Big Bazaar were not hiring enough locals. Big Bazaar, however, says that the company had retrenched “probationary employees” because of “excess manpower” on its mall floors. However, bowing to pressure from the unions, the company has taken back the fired employees. Says Kishore Biyani, Chairman, Future Group (which promotes Big Bazaar): “Today everybody wants growth. The days of treating employees like factory workers are gone. I hope everybody understands that.” The BKS meantime is training its sights on the hospitality, aviation and BPO sectors.