Employees Union Vehemently Oppose Tamilnad Mercantile Bank’s New HR Policy

This one has been in the limelight since the early 90s when the Ruias of the Essar group bought a little over 65% shares, cashing in on the internecine feud between the four promoter groups. When Ruias found resistance to their entry into Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB), they exchanged the shares with the serial entrepreneur C Sivasankaran for telecom licence for Delhi circle. But the going was tough for Sivasankaran too who was forced to return the shares to the Nadar community members, who could buy back only a part of his shares. Subsequently, 43% of the shares were reportedly acquired by a New York-based organisation using various local and foreign firms as fronts. This acquisition has since been disallowed by the Reserve Bank of India which had asked the Enforcement Directorate to probe foreign exchange violations in this case. This lot of shares remains a disputed one. Since then, much water has flown under the bridge, and TMB has also become a listed organisation. Now, TMB is back in the news now for a different reason, though. An unrest is apparently brewing over a new HR (human resources) policy which seeks to introduce the concept of CTC (cost to company). Opposing the move, TMB Employees’ Union, affiliated to AIBEA, has warned the management of industrial action. With key office-bearers of the union placed under suspension, the face-off at TMB appears to be escalating. TMB just can’t be out of the limelight, it appears!