CHENNAI, March 13: Employees at Maxworth Orchards India Ltd are on strike against the new management as they have not been paid their salaries even after the takeover.It may be mentioned that the Maxworth group was taken over by Andhra Pradesh-based agriculturist K G Krishnaswamy in January this year. Later it was confirmed that the real man behind the move was erstwhile takeover king P R Rajarathinam. Subsequently, R Subramaniam, the promoter of the group, announced his withdrawal from the management.
The contention of the employees is that the new management which took over in January 98 has not paid the salaries even for the first two months of the calendar year 98. Following a concerted effort by the employees association last month, the management paid them one months salary.
But with an `action replay' in March, the employees are not at all amused. The employees union said that it was not informed over any possible takeover and when it did happen, they were promised that their interests would beprotected. But till date they do not even know a single person on the board, except for C Dorai Babu who is the CEO now.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Udayan, the spokesperson of the K G Krishnaswamy group however said that all efforts are being made to resolve the payments issue. He said the management was in the process of negotiating the arrears and salary packages with field sales persons located in other parts of the state and that the exercise would soon be repeated in Chennai.
Batches of field staff from Hosur, Trichy and Madurai are said to have met the managment yesterday to negotiate a settlement. Udayan said efforts were being made by the promoters to raise funds to meet the requirements of the company.
He also told The Indian Express that a settlement of sorts would be negotiated before the end of the day. The employees of Maxworth Orchards have not been paid salaries from January 1997 till date, across the board. The company currently has an employee strength of 300.
Before the newgroup headed by K G Krishnaswamy took over in January, R Subramaniam the erstwhile promoter reportedly assured the employees of a revival of the company. As the news of the takeover leaked out, it is believed that he said that he would ensure the interests of the employees would be taken care of. It is also said that the new group agreed to take over the Maxworth group with its liabilities which included the outstanding salary payments. But apparently nothing has happened.
Shareholders and investors are also sore with the treatment meted out to them. Said an irate investor who had a show down at the company office, ``We got a letter from the new management about our investment being safe. But till date I do not see them doing anything and neither do they give back my money.'' And, according to market sources, it is true that the new management has still made no move to bring in any funds. There are also strong rumours in the market that the company has already sold off some land in Andhra Pradesh. Thesereports are however unconfirmed.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
