REGENCY CERAMICS: CASE STUDYBY: PRIYA MALHOTRARICHA TRIPATHISOUMYA SHANKAR

BACKGROUND:Regency Ceramics is the biggest industry in Yanam, which is situated about 30 km from Kakinada and has a population of over 42,000. The company employs 1,200 workers and has an annual turnover of Rs. 250 crore. Promoted by G N Naidu and his associates, Regency Ceramics (RCL) set up a unit in 1985-86 to manufacture 25,000 TPA of glazed and unglazed ceramic floor and wall tiles at Yanam, Pondicherry.

INCIDENT:Indias factory workers are the lowest paid within the big four emerging markets. Per capita income in India is under $4,000 a year, making it the poorest country in the BRICs despite its relatively booming economy.The company had been in talks with the employees and was trying to sort out issues since November, 2011.The management had introduced a production oriented incentive scheme that was mutually beneficial. The conciliation proceedings before the labour commissioner were also in the process of bringing about an amicable settlement.The workers dissented this settlement as they had been representing to the management but there has been no response and there was no wage hike for past 10 years.So workers went on strike Jan. 1 over this wage dispute.In a major outbreak of industrial violence following the death of a trade union leader,MrMurali Mohan, a top official of a ceramic company in Yanam, a small enclave of Puducherry in Andhra Pradesh, was killed by workers at his residence here on Friday. Trouble had been brewing in the factory since January 2, with more than 800 contract workers staging protests daily demanding that the services of senior workers be regularized and wages revised. Mr. Mohan, leading these protests, went to the factory at 6 a.m. on Friday and tried to obstruct workers going for the morning shift. Police personnel attacked him with batons, resulting in chest injuries. He collapsed and was rushed to hospital, where he died. Eight Regency Ceramics workers were injured in police firing that followed; the condition of two of them is critical. More than 100 protesters were arrested. (BLACK FRIDAY)

As news of his death spread, workers started destroying the company's assets.Once news of Muralis death spread, the factory workers allegedly destroyed 50 company vehicles .Dividing themselves into groups, they also targeted buses being run for students of the Regency Institute of Technology, dousing them with petrol and setting them ablaze. They ransacked the factory. Residents joined hands with around 600 workers, while others were enroute to Chandrashekhars house.The workers went on the rampage after their leader was killed in police action outside the factory. A group went to the house of president (Operations) of Regency Ceramics Limited K. C. Chandrasekhar and attacked him, resulting in serious head injuries after which he was admitted to a corporate hospital at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh, where he died.

MEASURES preventing the situation:1. Regency ceramics should have had a regular interaction of the management with the blue collar workers, if not giving the desired hike in their wages.2. Always keep the workers informed.3. Feedback box to be installed and checked at regular intervals.4. Officially create a workers union to ensure that the rights of workers are well protected.5. Give the workers yearly bonuses and increments.

MEASURES to control the situation:1. Have an emergency meeting at the time of strike. Discuss the issues and key solutions to curb the situation.2. Compensate for the losses to the families of bygones.