Labour troubles at Frito-Lay India

Troubled with labour problems for the past four months, FritoLay India, a unit of PepsiCo Holdings Ltd, is now planning to shift its production base from Punjab to its other locations in Kolkata and Pune. It had shut down its industrial production earlier this month.

While the company management has denied shifting out from Punjab, it has already shifted its production base from the state and moved out all its employees from the factory premises, which is locked since August 20. The current stand-off took a violent turn when on August 23 a few workers agitating outside the unit sustained injuries following a clash with the local truck union workers.

Set up in 1989 and producing ‘Kurkure’ and ‘Lays’ chips, the shifting of the production base has also come as a major blow to potato growers in the state. The unit utilised over 120 tonnes of potatoes every day and over 1,500 farmers from neaby areas benefited from the unit.