Visakhapatnam, November 13, 2025
The red-hot forges of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) hummed back to life early Thursday as over 15,000 workers—emboldened by an interim wage hike assurance—suspended a contentious 48-hour strike that had idled production lines and shaved Rs 200 crore off daily output. Union leaders, fresh from marathon talks with Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) management and Andhra Pradesh government reps, hailed the deal as a "hard-won breather" for their beleaguered workforce, but issued a stark ultimatum: Reverse the privatization push, or face a "total shutdown" by month's end. The walkout, triggered by stalled wage revisions amid spiraling living costs, underscores the plant's precarious perch—India's last public-sector coastal steel giant—teetering on the edge of a strategic sale that's ignited months of labor unrest.
The strike erupted at midnight on November 11, grinding to a halt the plant's 3 million tonne annual capacity amid blaring horns and crimson banners proclaiming "Save VSP, Scrap Sell-Off." Affiliated with the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and Indian National Tripartite Committee (INTUC), the unions mobilized 90% of the workforce— from blast furnace operators to contract loaders—in a show of solidarity against what they decry as "corporate vultures circling a national asset." Production nosedived immediately: Hot-rolled coils for auto giants like Tata Motors stalled, exports to Southeast Asia froze, and the plant's power block—its beating heart—went cold, echoing a May 2025 contract workers' walkout that had already spotlighted outsourcing fears.
Negotiations, brokered overnight at the plant's administrative block under floodlit tension, bridged the immediate chasm. RINL Chairman and Managing Director Atul Bhatt secured a 12% interim wage escalation—backdated to January 2025—along with a Rs 5,000 Diwali bonus and health coverage hikes for 5,000 contract staff, pending a full settlement by March 2026. "This isn't charity; it's justice delayed for workers who've kept India's steel spine erect for 47 years," proclaimed AITUC General Secretary P. Gangadhar, flanked by jubilant comrades at the plant gates as gates creaked open at 6 a.m. "We've bought time, but the real battle is privatization—scrap it, or we'll make July's national strike look like a picnic." His words echoed September's federation call to "intensify protests," when unions rallied in Amaravati against the Centre's disinvestment nod.
The specter of privatization looms large, a ghost revived by the National Steel Policy 2017 and accelerated under the Atmanirbhar push. RINL, saddled with Rs 20,000 crore in debt and 80% capacity utilization, floated expressions of interest in August for private operators to run "non-core" units like power and maintenance—moves unions brand as a "backdoor sell-off" paving the way for full divestment. Critics, including YSRCP firebrand Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, slammed the NDA's "U-turn" on safeguards, while Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu—hosting the CII Summit in Vizag—dispatched Labour Minister B. Mutyala Nageswara Rao to the talks, promising "no hasty privatization" in a bid to soothe investor nerves. Bhatt, addressing a subdued media scrum, struck a conciliatory tone: "Worker welfare is paramount; this pact restores normalcy and buys us space for revival talks with the Steel Ministry. We're committed to VSP's viability—through tech upgrades, not auctions."
On the ground, relief mingled with resolve. "Two days off the line meant no pay, but standing together felt like victory," shared blast furnace veteran K. Ramesh, 52, wiping grease from his brow as shifts resumed. Yet, undercurrents of anxiety persist: The plant, a lifeline for 1 lakh families in steel-dependent Gajuwaka, has bled 2,000 jobs to outsourcing since 2023, fueling fears of a "Tata-like" fate for its iconic coastal silhouette. Environmental nods aside, unions eye a November 20 "Save Steel" march to Delhi, syncing with national labor unrest against labor code dilutions.
As arc welders sparked back to rhythm and ladles brimmed with molten iron, Thursday's truce feels fragile—a wage win masking the molten core of contention. With the CII Summit spotlighting Andhra's "investment paradise," VSP's saga tests Naidu's balancing act: Woo capital without alienating labor. Gangadhar's parting shot? "Interim deals are bandages; only killing privatization heals the wound." In Vizag's salty breeze, the forges roar on—but the fire of resistance simmers.
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