 Food India's announcement of the closure of its production has shocked its employees and their families Thousands of employees of the food unit at Maraimala Nagar, Chengalpatu in Kanjiburam district Tamil Nadu Fearing the consequences of the closure New slick talk to the representatives of the employees the trade union and the small-scale Manufacturers dependent on the unit about the closure and its impact The media called us and told us that we will close the next year This has been shared by a large number of people This has been shared by the Chennai Food Employment Union in Kanjiburam In Chennai, there are 2,700 employees of the food union The staff are working on more than 4,000 people Suppliers, buses, drivers, canteen workers are working on more than 40,000 people The area around Maraimala Nagar is affected by the lack of people People are running a tea shop near the area People are running a house shop People are running a saloon shop There are a lot of people running food The food industry is closed The area is affected by the lack of people The government of Tamil Nadu is closed to the people We are not allowed to open the food industry The government of Tamil Nadu is closed to the people We are not allowed to open the food industry We are not allowed to open food industry We are not allowed to open food industry food industry is closed to the people We are not allowed to work The food industry must change... We are not allowed to work The technician working here is 35 years old She is not from Chennai In Tamil Nadu, there is a man from Palvera who works in the village. He works for the food industry in his own village. He has changed the whole village. He has bought the property here. Now he is married. Now he has a child. Some children are now studying in the school. So he has such thoughts. He has studied for the first time and come to this job. He is not just going to work or go to school. He has studied and done his job and has gone to his school. He can study at the next level for his children. He will go to the next level for the next generation. This is a social issue. The next generation of children will have a problem. We need to change the 4th generation. We need to change the 3rd and 2nd generation. We need to change the 3rd and 2nd generation. We need to continue our work. We are going to the next level. The 4th generation is the Arthur Major. International, globally, it is a very big company. It has a facility in Chennai. It is a very small company compared to the other facilities. In this fold, Chennai, 7000 people are working and indirectly, more than 20,000 people are involved in production and other things. And then, sunny centres, dealers, all together, nearly a lakh of workers are employed there. Directly and indirectly, they are earning their bread from 4 companies. Now, 4 days announced, all of us have done that. We are going to close the company. We are going to stop the production from April next year. It is a severe bold to the workers. They were shocked and also trade union movement and the democratic movement in Tamil Nadu also shocked. At one side, the government and others are saying that new companies are going to come. New capital is going to come. We are inviting capital. We are the number one in Tamil Nadu, India, number two in India. There are a lot of thoughts going on. At the same time, big closures are also taking place. In the past, the Nokia was closed. In the past, the Pachankam was closed. In the past, a lot of companies were closed. In the last two years alone, the COVID, another thing is cost for more than 6 lakh small and big and medium company closures and other things. Like and like people who have lost their gap, lost their income, lost their livelihood and everything. They have spent their hard-earned savings for the last 20, 30 years. All have gone. Now they are in a deep trouble. The working class is in deep trouble. In this background, the Ford announcement is also here, swatching one. The Ford, they are saying that we are at a loss. Loss is not a big thing for a company like Ford. Because this year or last year, that may be a small loss. But last 23 years in Chennai alone, they have produced a lot of cars. They have exported a lot of cars. They have earned profit in a big way. Huge amount they have earned as a profit. And that money was used for expansion in India, that is in Gujarat. They have expanded it perfectly and other things. So 23 years of profit and 2 years of small loss, you have to compare it. Quoting this, saying this loss, you should not deprive the employment to the workers. Deprive the income of the workers. That is our standpoint of CITU. So we request the Ford management. You should not close it. You should try to operate the company. We also, because Ford is a company which have employed more than 101 workers. According to the Indian Institute, they have to apply for closure or retrenchment or anything. They have to apply the government. They have to apply to the government and ask for the government permission to that. Ford still, they have not applied for that. In case they are applying for closure, seeking permission from the government, the government should say that we won't approve this closure because it will affect this much of people and like that, like that. The government should pass an order rejecting the proposal of the Ford. That is our request to the government. Because now the Ford is a producing car. More than 70% of the cars produced here is being exported with a huge profit and they are making profit though. So our thing is that the Ford management should not try to close the factory. The government should not give permission to close the factory. The government, it is the duty of the government to see that the workers are not lost at all. This is our idea. There are 100% companies which were dependent on Ford and they are losing their business activities. Then the government must immediately consider giving them the honour of the bridge exit. Because they have taken the loans from the bank. So the government should facilitate a one-time settlement and the government should possibly support that one-time settlement. They may not have the funds in their hand to even close the one-time settlement. So the government should give them the funds as an additional loan from the government organisation to close the loan and then recover it from them later or a period of time. So that they have an exit route. Then there is a third element of people who are only 30-40% dependent on Ford's sales and they will get into the red. So please invest on them to convert their production facilities to also support some other units like Ford. Some other industries like Ford. So that they may need investment, fresh investments on tools, jigs, fixtures. Additional needs will be there. So support them with the funding for that. And the fourth one is the industries or service providers who are dependent on Ford in the in and around bus service providers. Taxi service provider, car vehicle movements, the truck provider, the hotels, the room. Give them exemption for at least two years from the property tax. Exemption for them from the road tax. Exemption from them for some other concessional clearances so that they all survive. Nobody wants profit. They want to keep the nose above the water before getting drawn. You cannot salvage dead bodies. You must salvage the people when they are alive. Don't give them free money. But acknowledge what they have earned for your government in their life. That's what I'm trying to say. When they were good, when they were healthy, their hard work gave the money to the government as an income. Now when they are inhabited by somebody else's decision, go and help them out. Not just talk to them only with lip service. Through your channel, through this interview, I place on record the request to our Honorable Chief Minister, Mr. Stalin, to immediately constitute a task force in Tamil Nadu for conducting exit interviews of industries and try and hold back those industries from going immediately and support those who are impacted by them in a different format like a package.