Sacked employees ransack Vivo factory
GREA TERNOIDA: The workers at a mobile phone factory in Greater Noida turned violent on Tuesday evening when the company’s management sacked over 60 workers without any prior notice.
Over the last couple of months, after Indian Premier League cricket tournament was concluded, Vivo company handed over pink slips to over a thousand workers. The Chinese handset maker has been one of the official sponsors of the 10th edition of IPL this year.
The growing resentment among the workers took a violent turn on Tuesday, when one of the guards of the company allegedly slapped a worker after he asked about his job.
Soon after the incident, thousands of workers gathered and staged a protest against the errant policies of the company. The workers inside the factory also broke windowpanes of the building and cell phone assembly units in the factory.
A clash between security guards and workers continued outside the company gates for about half an hour, before the police took over. Some workers reportedly received minor injuries during the clash.
According to one of the workers, who was fired by the company on Tuesday, the company hired many workers during IPL season, and started laying them off when the season concluded. He said that the company has sacked over a thousand employees in the last few months and has plans to fire 2,000 more.
Gautam Budh Nagar’s Senior Superintendent of Police, Love Kumar, said, “The situation is under control. We have asked the workers not to indulge in any kind of violence and have also asked company to mend their policies.”
Vivo officials were not available for comments.
“In last couple of months, the cell phone maker has handed pink slips to over thousand workers. We will post police personnel near the IT park on Wednesday morning,” said Suniti, SSP (Rural).