UPDATE: Tata Steel KZN sinks into liquidation
The company went into a business rescue process in July in a last ditch attempt to save the sinking ship.
TATA Steel KZN (TSKZN) employees are anxiously waiting for details of the company’s liquidation process since the gloomy news was announced on Wednesday.
The company went into a business rescue process in July in a last ditch attempt to save the sinking ship.
Talks were held with several parties who may have been interested in acquiring the ferrochrome plant’s assets in Richards Bay.
But these efforts have done little to mollify Tata Steel employees, who feel the company has ‘broken promises and shattered dreams’.
‘For many employees and breadwinners the dream of a company that was to be ‘of strategic importance and the Tata foothold into Africa’ has turned into a nightmare,’ said the TSKZN Employee Forum in a statement.
‘Granted, there were many market forces at play impacting on the initial strategy that Tata had for TSKZN, but the bottom line is that certain undertakings expressed to employees and senior management never came to fruition.’
Broken promises
The forum highlighted four promises were made, but broken by the parent company.
These reportedly include assurances by the Tata Steel group that it would ensure the local plant had a stable source of raw material supply by securing a mine and provide post commencement funding under the business rescue process.
‘Tata India never provided a single cent towards post business rescue funding and relied on TSKZN to be self-funded in the process,’ said the forum.
‘The last promise relates to the Managing Director’s comment that the company will strive for a ‘graceful exit’, but it has certainly not been the experience for employees who have been totally abandoned, having not even been afforded their minimum Labour Relations Act rights.
‘There has also been no offer from Tata India (representing the so-called ‘caring’ philanthropic Tata Trust) to assist employees with post-traumatic counselling, financial advice or help to secure alternative employment, to name a few.
‘The TSKZN bubble has finally burst, and the shockwaves are far-reaching, causing much agony, uncertainty and pain’
A response from TSKZN’s Managing Director Ashwani Kumar Lal was not received in time for print.
