The company issued the lockout notice on Thursday and all regular workers were given paid leave till July 22. The factory employing about 350 workers is located in the Malegaon MIDC industrial area in Sinnar taluka.

The lockout decision comes close on the heels of a prolonged labour unrest and violence by agitating workers of the Sanghatana on June 30, when general manager M V Shriram and personnel manager Arun Kumar were assaulted and stripped. The agitators had also damaged some vehicles and other staff members, when their president Appa Katkade was attacked allegedly by a security guard while addressing a gate meeting.

The Sanghatana had launched a dharna three days prior tothe incident at the gate of the factory, demanding the reinstatement of a suspended employee. The Sanghatana had also accused the company of employing about 250 workers from Hissar, Haryana, to break the strike.

Dighole had established the Sanghatana on November 15, 1998, to work as a coordinating agency among unions, government agencies and companies to ensure peace in the Sinnar industrial area, where the government has planned a five-star industrial complex.