Hem Raj Khanal, president of Bhrikuti unit of All Nepal Industrial Workers Union, said the labor office asked Land Revenue Office, Kawasoti, to freeze the sale of 53 bigahas of land under the factory´s ownership. [break]
To exert pressure on the factory management, workers had registered an application recently requesting the freezing of the land owned by the factory.
The land deals have already been frozen as the land was put as collateral at the bank for loan proposes. Workers had registered a complaint against the company at the labor office in March demanding its intervention in getting the dues paid to the workers. The labor office resorted to freezing the land deals in line with existing labor law, it said.
The factory has already laid off employees with temporary and contract appointments, clearing all their dues. However, 333 permanent workers and 14 security guards are left without payment of salary for last one year.
Workers are venting ire against the factory management as they were notified three weeks ago that they wouldn´t get salary accrued since February this year.
The paper mill owned by the Golchha Organization was established in 1985 with the support of China. It was privatized in 1992 and the Golchha Organization has been operating the factory ever since.
The annual general meeting of the company held on October 24 endorsed the special proposal of the management to close down the factory. Following the approval, its management has filed an application at the labor office seeking permission to lay off all its staff.
The paper factory halted productions in March this year, citing shortage of raw materials, power-cuts, and decline in demand of paper it produced, among others.
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