Labour Practices and Decent Work
ITC employed 13850 (13433 in 2002–03) persons in the Units covered in the scope of this report. Out of them, 11201 employees belonged to the unionised cadre. The remaining were Management Staff, Lady Confidential Secretaries, Administrative Assistants and those non-management staff who have opted ‘out of union membership’. All unionised ‘non management staff’ at the factories, hotels, and other establishments are represented by independent trade union organisations with whom periodic Long Term Agreements (LTAs) are signed.

All Management staff, Lady Confidential Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, who are not unionised, enter the services of the organisation by signing individual contracts of employment.

During the period under review, the growth in the Company has created additional employment opportunities for over 400 people.

All major changes in operations involving work processes or manning norms and other productivity-linked issues are carried out after discussions and consultations with the employees and the recognised trade union at each location. Long Term Agreements are signed periodically, once every four or five years. Apart from revisiting remuneration and other terms and conditions of service, the Agreements provide an opportunity to achieve improvements in productivity, reorganisation of work, formation of empowered small groups on the shop floor, introduction of best work practices, flexibility in operations, and ownership of operational processes at all levels. These measures are discussed with employees and the recognised Union, who bring to the discussions the combined weight of their experience and many innovative practical suggestions. This ensures smooth and committed implementation of the changes planned. One ready example of the smooth management of a major change process was the relocation of ITC’s cigarette factory in Bengaluru. The factory was shifted from the heart of Bengaluru city to a new location 27 kms outside the city.

ITC’s Bengaluru Cigarette Unit is one of the largest and most modern factories in Asia. The entire cigarette making and packing operations with supporting utilities, infrastructure and administration were moved from the 91 year-old site in Bengaluru city to a new, state-of-the-art facility approximately 27 kms away.

Some of the daunting challenges that ITC had to cope with in relocating an operational factory :

• Ensuring that there was no adverse impact on production volumes or on quality and other parameters
• Executing a smooth and seamless shift to a new facility which was still in the initial stages of construction
• Coordinating parallel and complementary operations across two locations, 27 kms apart
• Speeding and scaling up operations at the new location, while tapering operations at the earlier site

The success of this mammoth task has largely been possible due to continuous communication with employees, team work, detailed planning and use of unique techniques and innovation in execution.