Chennai, May 27 (IANS): Tamil Nadu government officials have inspected the hydraulics' plant of Wipro Enterprises P Ltd near here and will submit their report to the Madras High Court, a Union official said.
"Three officials of the Tamil Nadu government's Inspectorate of Factories inspected the plant on Wednesday. They went around the factory, toilets and also checked the incoming and outgoing buses carrying workers. The government will submit its report to the Madras High Court that is hearing a case," P. Thambu Raj, Secretary, United Labour Federation (ULF) told IANS.
The Union has also approached the Madras High Court against the Tamil Nadu government's order that allows certain units to function during the Covid-19 lockdown.
With 95 per cent of the hydraulic cylinders produced supplied for earthmovers and the balance to tractors, the unit cannot be termed as essential services and a continuous process industry, Raj contended.
The ULF has demanded the closure of the hydraulics plant so that the Covid-19 spread could be broken.
According to him, no social distance is being maintained at the factory and full worker strength has been deployed in shifts though the number of shifts has been reduced from three to two.
Raj said workers at the factory come from Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram and Chennai where the Covid-19 infection rates are high.
According to him, one deceased worker had put in 12 years of service and has old parents, but the company is silent on financial assistance to them.
"During last year's Covid-19 lockdown (between March 23, 2020 and May 7, 2020) the factory was shut down. Now the situation is far more serious requiring a stricter lockdown," Raj said.
Part of the Wipro Group, Wipro Enterprises has broadly two divisions -- Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting and Wipro Infrastructure Engineering under which the hydraulics manufacturing comes.
According to the company, it is one of the largest independent hydraulic cylinder manufacturers in the world delivering over a million cylinders to original equipment manufacturers (OEM) of earthmovers, material and cargo handling machinery, forestry, farm and agriculture equipment and in the fields of mining and truck tipping.