A day before its scheduled reopening, Dunlop India Limited (DIL)'s Sahaganj factory on Sunday slid back into uncertainty after the management decided to keep the shutters down till the Citu-run workers' union furnished a written pledge of cooperation. 'Under the circumstances... we are sure it will be appreciated that the reopening of the Sahaganj factory will not be possible,' said B. Sen Sarma, an official spokesman for Dunlop. After the reopening of Dunlop's factory at Ambattur, as planned during the day, the management said that the uncertainty surrounding the reopening of the Sahaganj unit on Monday could not be adequately cleared, in the absence of written support from the workers' union. 'We have all along been suspecting that they (the management) are up to some mischief,' said Ashok Paul, vice-president of the union at Sahaganj. 'They want rioting on Monday so that they can cry off their responsibility and put the blame on us.' In a two-page press note, the Sahaganj management claimed it had been possible to reopen the Ambattur plant because of the availability of such a pledge of continuing cooperation from the workers' union there. Treating the two plants as inter-linked, the management said the reopening depended on the Dunlop workers' union signing and returning the 'final minutes of discussion' that took place on January 6 between the management and the two unions. 'We have received from the Ambattur union assurances of full support and the minutes duly signed. We are still awaiting the signed copy and an assurance from the Sahaganj workers' union,' Sen Sarma said.