Ron Throne

REACHING THE THRONE IS EASY

STAYING THERE IS DIFFICULT
It was a warm summer day in October –
the kind only Mumbai witnesses during a
time when other parts of the country are
seen cozying into winter hibernation.
There was heat and humidity in equal
measure dotting the outside of Rakesh’s
windows. But it was hard to tell what
seemed more discomforting – the
mugged air outside or the cold
atmosphere inside.
Staring at the glass door, Rakesh Dutta
seemed burdened by a period of sluggish
production led by workmen in the unit.
The cause was a 2-year-old dispute on
the Charter of Demands (COD) between
the management and the workmen, part
of an internal committee that was affiliated
to a powerful external union.
Sonapur Plant:
The Sonapur Plant was the
exclusive unit producing Industrial
Paints for Intel Paints. The company
had a huge dependency on the
plant. However, the history of the
plant was a narrative of several IR
episodes – the latest being the
standoff on the COD. The turmoil
was also catalyzed by a young
aggressive team of blue collared
workforce supplemented by
external political influences which
were very active in the area.
Intel Paints:
Intel Paints is the leading
manufacturer of decora-
tive paints in India. With a
market cap of 2 billion, it
has its businesses in the
decorative, automobile
and industrial segments. It
has independent manufac-
turing facilities for the dec-
orative business and Joint
ventures for the
automobile and industrial
wings
The conciliation on the COD
between the management and
the union had failed and the
matter was under adjudication
with the ALC.
As Rakesh pinned the produc-
tion reports for October 2018 on
his desk, he saw an uneasy his-
torical trend – a constant decline
in production. The pressure was
wearing him down – visible on
his face as he locked his cabin
and began the 2 km walk
towards home. Sonapur Plant
was key to the business of Intel
Paints.
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At 9 am the following day, Rakesh was
sipping a cup of black tea when he
received a call from his Senior Officer
Hemant Patel.
Rakesh Dutta:
Hemant: Good Morning Sir An MBA in Operations
from a premier B-School in
Rakesh: Good Morning Hemant. Anything
the country, Rakesh Dutta
urgent?
was in love with the famed
Hemant: Yes Sir. One of our workmen Supply Chain of Intel
died in a road accident ..(interrupted) Paints. Having done his
summer internship at the
Rakesh: What? Died? Who? How? organization and received
Hemant: Nishant Dhule, Sir. His bike skid
a job offer, Rakesh was
off and hit a truck a couple of hours ago. first posted in the Sonapur
He was taken to the hospital and factory as an Executive in
declared dead on arrival. the Production
department in 2016.
Rakesh: That is horrible. Has the news
reached office?

Hemant: Yes Sir. The workmen learnt of the news this morning. They have
assembled in the shop-floor resting area since then. I requested them to
resume work, but they didn’t. They seem very emotionally charged.

Rakesh: I see. Don’t worry. I will see you in the office in 30 mins

Rakesh immediately walked, or more like hurried, to the office. Really, there
was evidence to prove. A walk of 15 minutes on a usual day was clocked at
10 mins.

At work, Hemant briefed Rakesh again.

Rakesh saw the group and let them be. He thought they would disperse and
get to work after collective mourning.

Thirty mins had passed and now Rakesh knew that he had to get the con-
versation going with the workmen to get work started. He walked up to the
20-odd member group assembled in the resting area of the shop-floor and
requested them to resume work. An aggressive workgroup peppered with
high emotions were in no mood to listen. Rakesh insisted and asserted the
need to resume work.
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Workers were adamant that they could not resume work since it was a pre-
cious colleague they had lost. They were pinning the blame of the death on
the management suggesting that Nishant died because he was rushing to
office under pressure to mark his attendance on time.

In an attempt to assuage emotions, Rakesh went over to Manohar Shinde,

the president of the internal union, also seated among the group.

Rakesh broke ice: “Manohar ji, I understand that all of us are upset. But we
would need to resume work as well. An unfortunate incident has taken place and
the reality is that we had no control over this.”

Manohar was visibly displeased. He charged at Rakesh with expletives and

cuss words. The conversation heated up and Rakesh was pushed into an
adjacent room by Manohar who was backed by some members of the
group. The SO tried to come to the rescue, but was threatened and blocked
out by the group members.

Rakesh was assaulted – verbally and physically before being shunted out of
the room by the group. Shaken and hurt, he headed to his cabin and dialed
the HR manager Vikram Pawar.

Vikram knew there had been low points in the IR history of Sonapur Plant
but this was exceptionally low by its own standards. The management was
of the view that swift justice needed to be delivered in this case. How else
could you reinstate respect and faith in the management?

An Enquiry Officer (EO) was appointed to investigate the incident. Nine

people were listed as accused in the case which had 3 witnesses – Rakesh
himself, senior officer Hemant and the HR Manager (who was a supporting
witness since he was not present at the scene of the incident).

Based on the statements of the witnesses (listed in the annexure), the EO

found all 9 guilty of misconduct. The management was faced with a few
critical questions:

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The management is of the view that termination should happen. As an IR
expert, they are asking you to advise the management:
1. Should the termination happen?
2. The 9 accused comprise office bearers and non-office bearers of the
union. In what legal ways could this impact the punitive action that could
be taken by the management?
3.The accused had pleaded that the incident was a fabricated story by the
management and was driven by the standoff on the COD. Even as the EO
found them guilty, how does the ongoing court dispute on COD limit the
management’s actions in the assault case?

While the misconduct enquiry process was on, a faction was developing in
the unit which seemed to have a more constructive approach to resolving
the COD deadlock. This group had a support of 39 members in the 55-mem-
ber group. Unimpressed by the aggressive approach of the existing union
and the unending COD dispute, this group, affiliated to another equally
strong external union in the region, reached out to the management.

Their approach was more positive and the management was in conversa-
tion with them. The new union had reached an agreement with the manage-
ment on COD and had offered to sign the settlement as it could go a long
way in ensuring the plant became a performing unit for Intel Paints. Howev-
er, there were concerns to address:

The COD dispute with the earlier union is pending in court. Whereas the
new union has shown willingness to sign the settlement on agreed terms
with the management. The management is deliberating the way forward
and is seeking your expertise and opinion.

Resolving this conundrum is vital to the management. More days lost due to
the turmoil directly impacts the business. They are looking for answers and
so are we.

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Name Misconduct Witness History Position
Manohar • Initiated the misconduct by Manager, - History of misconducts Committee
Shinde threatening the Manager and using Sr Officer - Warning Letters issued Member
cuss words / expletives. multiple times
• Pulled him inside the room and - Leading the internal
manhandled manager
Union and nuisance
• Threatened and forced Senior Officer
maker
to go outside the room
• Earlier, stopped Senior Officer from
performing the work allotted to him
Shekhar • Used expletives / curse words when Manager, - History of misconducts Committee
Jadhav questioned for not starting work Sr Officer - Warning Letters issued Member
• This was one of the actions that multiple times
initiated the group misconduct - Leading the internal
• Threatened the manager during the
Union and nuisance
commotion, pushed him and
maker
assaulted him
Dev • Supported Shekhar Jadhav in pushing Manager No past record Committee
Panchal the Manager inside the cabin Member
• Used expletives
• Was part of the commotion and hit
the manager along with others
Ajay • Supported Shekhar Jadhav in pushing Manager No past record Committee
Raut the Manager inside the cabin Member
• Used expletives
• Was part of the commotion and hit
the manager along with others
Vinay • Was part of the commotion Manager No past record --
Pathak • Held the Manager and hit him on his
face, which resulted in his glasses
falling down
• Used Expletives
Abhijit Hit the Manager on his back with a log Manager History of misconducts --
Kulkarni book when he bent down to lift his Warning Letters issued
glasses earlier
Vilas • Used expletives Manager No past record --
Kadu • Was part of the commotion and hit
the Manager along with others
Amit • Used expletives Manager -History of misconducts --
Pawar • Was part of the commotion and hit - Warning Letters
the Manager along with others issued earlier
Devesh • Used expletives Manager -No past record --
Mhatre • Was part of the commotion and hit - Nuisance maker,
the Manager along with others responsible for
instigating people,
usually never come in
the forefront