For every weighted average tonne of aluminium product produced per month in excess of 425 tonnes, each worker will be paid Rs 8, and for every weighted average tonne of aluminium product produced per month above 525 tonnes, each worker will be paid Rs 9. So, for 50 weighted average tonnes extra produced per month over and above 425 tonnes, every worker will earn Rs 400 more per month.

The weighted-average production is obtained by multiplying the nominal production at the unit by a weighted average statistical factor. The workers have been rewarded with a new wage package that gives them a minimum pay packet of Rs 7,700, housing allowances, gain-sharing schemes and other housing allowances.

With Alcan set to take the pilot's seat with a 54 per cent stake in Indal, the workers' pay packets have taken on a multinational look. Indal signed anattractive wage settlement on Tuesday for its employees, It was signed between the Association of Engineering Workers (Kamgar Aghadi) headed by PN Samant and Indal works manager, Kalwa works, VL Dalvi.

As per the new settlement, the lowest salary for the workers will be Rs 7,792, and the maximum, Rs 10,973. The settlement, valid with retrospective effect from October 1, 1996 to June 30, 2,000, gives an average increase of Rs 1,900 over the basic salary. The basic now will stand between Rs 1,550 and Rs 2,082.

Taking inflation into account, the company, for the first time, has also allotted a dearness allowance in the range of Rs 125-340. Indal has also offered to start a new packet called the settlement allowance, which includes settlement, service and computer allowances.

The settlement allowance will range between Rs 255 and Rs 492, depending upon the workers' years of service. The service allowance will be between Rs 50 and Rs 125, also depending upon the years of service, and the computer allowancehas been fixed at Rs 50.

The leave-travel allowance (LTA), currently in the range of Rs 600-1,080, will also be increased to Rs 2,700-3,180. The medical benefits have also been increased from Rs 300 to Rs 1,800.