Muthoot Finance Employees Resume Indefinite Strike over Sacking of 164 Staffers

The renewed protest by Muthoot Finance Employees against the termination of 164 employees in Kerala entered its third day on Wednesday. A group of staffers under the banner of Muthoot Finance Employees Union (MFEU),  who have been resisting the “anti-worker” policies of the management for more than a year, on Monday launched an indefinite strike in front of the company’s head office in Kochi. 

Inaugurating the indefinite strike, Anathalavattam Anandhan, the state president of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), said, “No one could suppress the struggle of the workers for their livelihood using power and money.”

Earlier, on December 7, 2019, the Muthoot management had terminated as many as 164 employees without serving them any notice. The management had also declared that 43 branches of the company across Kerala would be shutting down. Due to this, employees from 568 branches, including the head office in Kochi, had launched an indefinite strike on January 2 last year under the banner of the Non-Banking and Private Finance Association (NBPFA), of which MFEU is a part. NBPFA and MFEU are associated with the CITU.

The COVID-19 pandemic had forced the MFEU to call off the strike on March 26, 2020, following an order by the state’s labour department. The employees, however, staged a three-day protest again from November 23 to 25 last year raising the same issue. But the management has not moved from their stand even a year after the termination of the employees. So, the union and employees have resorted to yet another protest against the policies of the management.

“It is a year after the management had terminated 164 employees including the union leaders and closed down the branches where the union leaders had been working as a revenge against the unionisation of employees. Since then, the union staged several protests including the 84-day indefinite strike, which was called off later due to the Covid-19 protocols,” said C.C. Ratheesh, secretary of the Non-Banking and Private Finance Association.

“Though the High Court intervened in the matter and appointed an observer and held 22 rounds of talks, the management has been stuck on their adamant stand and this forced the employees to resume their protests,” Ratheesh added.

The management has, however, been maintaining that the Kerala chapter of the company was running at a loss, and this was the reason behind the closure of the branches. However, unions say that the “illegal termination” of the employees was a retaliatory move by the management in response to the employees staging a 52-day strike, which had begun on August 20, 2019.

At one point, the management even declared that they did not want to engage with the NBPFA and the CITU. Of the terminated employees, four are office bearers of the Muthoot Finance Employees Union. Another 30 of them are working committee members of the union and the rest are active members.

Also Read: No Minimum Wage, No Maternity Leave: How NBFCs in Kerala are Exploiting Employees