Tamil Nadu: Powerloom weavers demand up to 60 per cent wage hike
Over one lakh workers have been left jobless due to the ongoing indefinite strike
Members of Tamil Nadu Open End Mills Association petition Collector K Pavankumar G Giriyappanavar to end the protest
COIMBATORE: Job-working powerloom weavers from Coimbatore and Tirupur demanded a wage hike of 50 to 60 percent at a meeting with District Collector K Pavankumar G Giriyappanavar on Tuesday.
Over one lakh workers have been left jobless due to the ongoing indefinite strike since March 19.
Addressing the media after talks with the District Collector, SE Bhoopathi, president of the Federation of Coimbatore-Tirupur district Job Working Powerloom Owners Association, said that wages were last revised in 2022 by 19 per cent after several rounds of protests.
However, after three months, the wages were reduced to what it was in 2014. “At the meeting with the District Collector, we insisted on a wage hike of 50 to 60 per cent due to an increase in electricity charges, labourer wages, and prices of raw materials. Our strike has resulted in the business loss of over Rs 250 crore,” he added.
A solution is likely to be arrived at in the tripartite meeting to be organised soon involving the master weavers, powerloom association representatives, and the government machinery.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Open End Mills Association president, P Jayapal has submitted a petition to Collector K Pavankumar G Giriyappanavar to soon end the ongoing protest by the power loom sector.
“The OE mills concentrated mostly in Coimbatore and Tirupur districts are incurring heavy losses due to the protest. Also, hundreds of job working units involved in sizing, dyeing, knitting, weaving, printing, stitching, packing and ironing have been hit,” he said.
Further, Jayapal urged the government to provide temporary relief from the hiked electricity charges until the protests get over and sought an extended time for repayment and commercial tax.
