Indian CEO killed by angry mob
Indian CEO killed by angry mob
Date: Wednesday, September 24, 2008 8:41 PM
<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1923 -- 9/24/2008 >>>>>
Indian companies are having some serious problems at home, but not in USA
where they are replacing thousands of American workers with cheap labor from
India -- it is happening in India by Indians. Tata is one of the world's
biggist mega-corporations who we know mostly as the larget bodyshop in the
U.S. who go by the name Tata Consultancy (TCS), They are the company that is
buying up Chrysler.
Earlier this month, thousands of angry farmers protested the land grab that
Tata engineered in order to build their Nana automobile. Angry mobs of
protestors blocked Tata workers from leaving a factory in Singur. The future
of the Nana is now in question because the farmers think it would be better to
grow food on the 400 acres of land than allow wealthy CEOs to make more riches
on the backs of cheap workers.
Just a few days ago things got even uglier in India, but this time it wasn't
Tata. A plant in Delhi that outsources car parts for an Italian company
eliminated about 100 jobs. The unemployed workers were not too happy about
losing their jobs, so they went to the plant and killed the CEO.
Soon after the mob killing, Oscar Fernandes, who heads the country s Ministry
of Labour and Employment, suggested that this incident "should serve as a
warning for management" and even went further by saying that, "workers should
be dealt with compassion".
It didn't take long for Indian business leaders to react by heaping criticisms
on Fernandes. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the president of the Federation of Indian
Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said that he was shocked that, "an innocent
man has died". Other business leaders wasted no time in accusing Fernandes of
condoning bludgeoning of the CEO.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4810644.ece
CEO murdered by mob of sacked Indian workers
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4817414.ece
Outrage as Indian minister says murder of CEO by sacked mob 'serves as a
warning'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7630696.stm
India boss 'lynched by workers'
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/engineering/article4655857.ece
Factory riots put Tata's Nano in jeopardy
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Indias-Tata-says-would-move-Nano-plant-if-forced-HREDV?opendocument&src=rss
Tata Motors says violence could force Nano plant to move
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4810644.ece
September 23, 2008
CEO murdered by mob of sacked Indian workers
(AFP PHOTO/Deshakalyan CHOWDHURY)
Work protests coud threaten India's economy
Rhys Blakely in Bombay
Update: Outrage as minister says attack 'serves as warning'
Corporate India is in shock after a mob of workers bludgeoned to death the
chief executive who sacked them from a factory in a suburb of Delhi.
Lalit Kishore Choudhary, 47, the head of the Indian operations of Graziano
Transmissioni, a manufacturer of car parts that has its headquarters in Italy,
died of severe head wounds on Monday after being attacked by scores of laid-
off employees, police said. The incident, in Greater Noida, followed a long-
running dispute between the factory s management and workers demanding better
pay and permanent contracts.
It is understood that Mr Choudhary, who was married with one son, had called a
meeting with more than a hundred former employees who had been dismissed after
an earlier outbreak of violence at the plant. He wanted to discuss a possible
reinstatement deal.
A police spokesman said: "Only a few people were called inside. About 150
people were waiting outside when they heard someone from inside shout for
help. They rushed in and the two sides clashed. The company staff were heavily
outnumbered."
Other executives said that they were lucky to escape with their lives. "I
locked my door from inside and prayed they would not break in. See, my hands
are trembling even three hours later," one Italian consultant told reporters.
More than 60 people were arrested and more than 20 were in hospital yesterday.
A spokesman for the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
said: "Such a heinous act is bound to sully India s image among overseas
investors."
The murder has stoked fears that outbreaks of mob rule risk jeopardising the
sub-continent s economic rise. Thousands of violent protesters recently forced
Tata, the Indian conglomerate that owns Land Rover and Jaguar, to halt work on
a plant being built to produce the world s cheapest car, the #1,250 Nano. The
move could result in #200 million in investment costs being written off.
Tata stopped work three weeks ago, saying that it could not guarantee its
workers safety at the factory in the state of West Bengal. The billionaire
industrialist Mukesh Ambani said that the Nano crisis showed how protesters
were creating "a fear psychosis to slow down certain projects of national
importance". Other companies, including Vedanta, the London-listed mining
company, have encountered similar problems in India.
In a statement issued from Rivoli,Italy, Graziano said that some of Mr
Choudhary s attackers had no connection with the company.
Deadly work
-- 1986 In Edmond, Oklahoma, 14 postal employees were killed by a part-time
letter carrier who was about to be dismissed
-- 1996 A former employee of a car parts supplier in New York state shot dead
a manager who had demoted him, and wounded two other workers
-- 2005 A former employee of an international school in Cambodia took dozens
of children hostage and shot dead a two-year-old Canadian boy
Sources: Asian Week, Times archives
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4817414.ece
September 25, 2008
Outrage as Indian minister says murder of CEO by sacked mob 'serves as a
warning'
Lalit Choudhary was battered to death by a mob Rhys Blakely in Bombay Indian
business leaders were outraged last night after a government minister said
that the murder of a chief executive by a mob of sacked workers "should serve
as a warning for management".
Lalit Choudhary, 47, the head of the Delhi-based operations of Graziano
Transmissioni, an Italian car-parts maker, died of head wounds on Monday after
being beaten by scores of employees he had earlier dismissed.
The attack, at the Graziano plant in Greater Noida, a suburb of the Indian
capital, followed a dispute between the factory s management and workers, who
had demanded better pay and permanent contracts.
Mr Choudhary was holding a meeting with more than a hundred former staff to
discuss a possible reinstatement deal when the attack occurred. The murder has
left much of corporate India in shock. However, Oscar Fernandes, who heads the
country s Ministry of Labour and Employment, declined to criticise the attack,
saying it "should serve as a warning for management".
Mr Fernandes added: "Workers should be dealt with with compassion . . .
workers should not be pushed so hard that they resort to whatever happened."
The Government has admitted that there is widespread resentment among hundreds
of millions of Indians who have failed to benefit from their country s much
publicised economic renaissance.
Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister, has conceded that India s recent runaway
growth in gross domestic product of close to 9 per cent a year are not
reflected in most of the electorate s experiences. This year he unveiled a
massive debt waiver for India s poor farmers in an attempt to make the
country s growth more inclusive -- one of several such populist policies.
Indian business groups reacted with disbelief to Mr Fernandes s apparent
suggestion that a workforce s "simmering discontent" justified beating to
death a boss.
"I cannot believe that someone in the Government is condoning something like
this," Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the president of the Federation of Indian
Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said. "An innocent man has died. I am
frankly flabbergasted. I am shocked."
The Confederation of Indian Industry said there was "nothing in the world that
can justify lynching of any person and no dispute can be settled by murdering
an adversary". The organisation had earlier given warning that the mob killing
-- one of several violent episodes to have blighted Indian industry in recent
months -- would tarnish the sub-continent s global standing as a place to do
business.
The country has already seen a massive exodus of foreign capital from its
stock markets this year in the wake of the credit crisis affecting Wall Street
and much of the rest of the world.
India, which is also fighting a surge in inflation and the first slowdown in
GDP growth for three years, can little afford to spurn overseas investment.
Graziano immediately demanded an apology for what it called Mr Fernandes s
"very unfortunate comment". The minister later said he had not meant to
condone violence.
In a statement issued from Rivoli, Italy, the company said that some of Mr
Choudhary s attackers did not have any connection with the company. It added
that the chief executive was killed by "serious head injuries" caused by the
intruders.
"We absolutely condemn the attack," Marcello Lamberto, the head of Oerlikon
Segment Drive (Systems), which owns Graziano, said. "This is by no means a
regular labour conflict, but is truly criminal action. The whole of Oerlikon
Group is close to the family of Mr Choudhary in this terrible moment."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7630696.stm
India boss 'lynched by workers'
The Indian head of an Italian auto parts company has been beaten to death in a
suburb of Delhi, allegedly by a group of sacked workers.
Lalit Kishore Choudhary, of Graziano Trasmissioni India, died at the company
factory in Greater Noida.
Police said more than 100 dismissed workers entered the factory vandalised
machinery and attacked Mr Choudhary.
The confrontation came after a long industrial dispute. The workers denied
killing Mr Choudhary.
Nearly 300 workers at Graziano Trasmissioni were dismissed two months ago
after they demanded pay rises and allegedly ransacked its offices, the AFP
news agency reported.
Damaged
The meeting with Mr Choudhary, which took place on Monday, was reportedly
scheduled to discuss the possibility of reinstating some of the workers.
However, "the dismissed employees turned violent during a meeting with the
management," Reuters news agency quoted senior police officer RK Chaturvedi as
saying.
Some 63 people were arrested, Mr Chaturvedi said.
He described how angry workers damaged office property and singled out Mr
Choudhary when he tried to reason with the mob. They allegedly used iron bars
to beat up the chief executive.
But the workers denied attacking Mr Choudhary, described in one report as a
47-year-old father of one.
"We were demonstrating peacefully to get our jobs back," one of the workers,
Rajpal, told the Hindustan Times newspaper.
"Outsiders may have assaulted the CEO leading to his death. Firing by the
guards agitated workers and they clashed with the staff," he said.
Dozens of people injured in the clash have been admitted to hospital.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/engineering/article4655857.ece
September 2, 2008
Factory riots put Tata's Nano in jeopardy Rhys Blakely in Bombay The future of
the Nano - the world's cheapest car - remains in doubt as protestors besiege
the partly built factory where production of Tata's #1,250 vehicle is supposed
to begin within a month.
Work at the Singur plant, in West Bengal, stopped on Friday when Tata said
that it was too dangerous to send its workers to the site. More than a week
ago, Ratan Tata, its chief executive, gave warning that he was ready to
abandon Singur if the protests continued. Such a move would involve Tata
writing off as much as $350 million (#194 million).
Several of India's most prominent businessmen have said that the shutdown
risks ruining the country's credibility as an emerging industrial superpower.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators at Singur claim that 400 acres were taken
illegally from smallholders by the state's communist-led government and are
demanding the land back. On Thursday more than 3,600 workers were prevented
from leaving the plant by angry mobs. After receiving threats of further
violence, the company told its staff to stay at home.
The decision is a severe blow for the Indian conglomerate, which had wanted
the Nano to reach showrooms in time for a Hindu festival in October. The car
was unveiled in January, when its engineering was hailed as a breakthrough,
but the Singur crisis and the soaring cost of raw materials threaten to
scupper its viability.
The Nano's significance was underscored on Wednesday when Mukesh Ambani, a
rival industrialist, gave a rare show of support for Tata. "A fear-psychosis
is being created to slow projects of national importance,"
he said.
Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel, India's largest private-sector
mobile phones group, said: "The Tatas pulling out would be unfortunate for
India. The wave of industrialisation in the country could suffer."
Several companies, including Vedanta, the FTSE 100 miner, have encountered
problems in establishing large projects in India, where property rights are
often disputed.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Indias-Tata-says-would-move-Nano-plant-if-forced-HREDV?opendocument&src=rss
Tata Motors says violence could force Nano plant to move
TOP News
Bush says US in "serious financial crisis" 10:37 AM
KOLKATA - India's Tata Motors Ltd said it was prepared to move a plant to make
the Nano, billed as the world's cheapest car, from its eastern Indian site if
violent protests continued, despite having invested $350 million in the
project.
Tata Motors has faced protests and political opposition over the acquisition
of farmland for the plant in West Bengal state, which have led to cost
overruns and threaten to delay the car's launch.
"What has concerned us is the violence, the disruptions, that has led us to be
concerned about the safety of our employees, our equipment and investment, and
of the viability of the process," Chairman Ratan Tata told reporters in
Kolkata, the state's capital, on Friday.
Tata said the Nano would be ready to launch in or close to October, but
irrespective of the investment made so far, the safety of employees and
workers at the site was his main concern.
"If anybody is under the impression that because we have made this very large
investment of 1,500 crore rupees ($A402 million), that we would not move, then
they are wrong, because we would move to protect our people," he said.
"There is a concern about our people, a definite concern about not being
wanted."
Industry forums called for a peaceful solution to break the deadlock.
"Any adverse development with regard to the upcoming Tata Motors Nano Plant in
Singur, will irreversibly hamper the future in industrialisation in the state
of West Bengal," Chandrajit Banerjee, director-general of the Confederation of
Indian Industry said in New Delhi.
The Nano project has been billed as a key to the rejuvenation of industries in
West Bengal, where the world's longest-serving democratically elected
Communist government has changed tack after decades of focus on helping
agriculture and poor farmers.
The unveiling in January of the 100,000 rupee snub-nosed Nano was hailed by
the state's ruling Communists, but protests have since gathered steam.
Trouble began after the government took over 1,000 acres of farmland for the
factory. The government offered compensation, but some farmers with smaller
land holdings have refused compensation, demanding that land be given back to
them.
India's second-biggest private conglomerate which has interests ranging from
software to steel, is known as much for his philanthropy as for being above
the political fray.
"If there is a view, for various political reasons, that we should not be here
or that what we are trying to do should be altered ... then we would
necessarily face a situation, very reluctantly, where we would have to move,"
he said.
Shares in Tata Motors, India's leading vehicle maker, closed up 1.8 percent at
425.60 rupees in the Mumbai market that rose 1.1 percent.
No plan B
The Nano has already encouraged other car makers including Renault, Nissan
Motor, General Motors, Hyundai Motor to plan to make low-cost cars for India
and other emerging markets.
Ratan Tata has said he expects eventual sales of one million units of the Nano
in India, with exports also contributing later.
"It would seem that many people have a desire to not see that (launch)
happen," he said on Friday.
"It's our desire to see that it takes place," he said, adding there "was no
Plan B" for the roll-out of the Nano at this time.
Tata has said the plant at Singur, which was to have an initial capacity of
250,000 units, would be the first, but not the only plant to make the Nano.
The protests reflect a larger stand-off between industry and farmers unwilling
to part with land in a country where two-thirds of the 1.1 billion population
depends on agriculture.
The West Bengal government had started talks with the Trinamool Congress
party, the main political opposition in the state, spearheading the protests.
"Everyone has a right to protest, but in a democratic and peaceful manner.
I want them to keep their promise," Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, West Bengal's
chief minister said.
Mamata Banerjee, the opposition party chief, wants 400 acres of farmland
returned to the farmers, which the government says is not possible to do.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Newsletter Homepage:
http://www.JobDestruction.com/shameh1b/JobDestructionNews.htm
Support this Newsletter and www.JobDestruction.com by donating:
www.zazona.com/Donations.htm
To Be removed from this mailing list, reply to this email with UNSUbSCRIBE in
the subject window
Back to archives