Jamshedpur: A Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) was signed between the Tata Steel and the Tata Workers� Union on Monday for annual bonus for the year 2015-2016. As per the MoS, the total payout for 28436 eligible employees of all applicable divisions or units of the company on account of annual bonus for the year 2015-2016 will be Rs 130 crore.
Out of this, for Divisions at Jamshedpur including Tubes Division, an amount of Rs 75.77 Crore approx will be distributed as annual bonus amongst 15575 employees. The minimum and maximum annual bonus payable for 2015-16 will be Rs 16800 and Rs 1,21,365 respectively.
Tata Steel Managing Director T V Narendran accompanied by Anand Sen, president (TQM & SB), S D Tripathi, vice president (HRM) and other senior executives signed the bonus settlement on behalf of the management.
R Ravi Prasad, president, Tata Workers Union, Sanjeev K Choudhary, deputy president, Tata Workers� Union, BK Dinda, General Secretary, Tata Workers� Union and other office bearers signed on Unions behalf in presence of Conciliation Officer and Deputy Labour Commissioner Jamshedpur Rakesh Prasad.
�Since majority of our employees of the Steel Company are drawing salary or wages higher than the limit laid down in the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, they are not eligible for bonus under the Act. However, respecting our old traditions, the company is going to pay bonus to all employees in the unionised category,� said a company spokesperson.
Hailing the bonus agreement, R Ravi Prasad said the steel companies all over the world were facing a slowdown. As a result, the company management and the union agreed for the payment of 8.60 per cent of basic and Dear Allowance of the employees as bonus. �The union has been successful in ensuring an honourable bonus agreement with the company. As per agreement, the total bonus amount turned out to be Rs 117.1 crore. But we pressed the management to increase and round up the amount to Rs 130 crore,� he said.
The union president informed that the 127 odd Service Pool employees of the company will also get bonus this year. Service Pool employees will not get bonus next year. The incentive bonus of 110 employees will be given from 1st September,� he said.
Meanwhile, the opposition leaders of Tata Workers Union accused the union president of causing loss to workers through a lesser amount of bonus agreed upon this year as compared to previous year bonus. They said the union leaders should have demanded for a bigger amount in bonus ahead of this Durga Puja.