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Thousands of powerlooms fall silent in Sircilla
With the managements making mockery of wage settlement for the last two years, nearly 30,000 powerlooms that produce polyester cloth in Sircilla fell silent with the workers resorting to an indefinite strike from Monday.
Sircilla: With the managements making mockery of wage settlement for the last two years, nearly 30,000 powerlooms that produce polyester cloth in Sircilla fell silent with the workers resorting to an indefinite strike from Monday.
Since there was no change in the attitude of the powerloom owners, who have been denying the workers their due by not implementing the wage settlement, this has been on the cards for some time now.
Although the powerloom owners agreed to pay 0.20 paise per 10 pieces of fabric to workers in 2015 in the presence of IT Minister KT Rama Rao, who also holds the portfolio of handlooms and textiles, till date the wage settlement remained elusive for the workers. It may be noted here that the revision of wage settlement that occurs every alternative year is due again this year.
HIGHLIGHTS:
- The wage settlement to pay 0.20 paise per 10 pieces of fabric to workers made in 2015 in the presence of IT Minister KT Rama Rao, is yet to be implemented
- The revision of wage settlement that occurs every alternative year is due again this year
- To earn 350 a day, each worker has to run more than 10 powerlooms and work for over 12 hours in the unit
Speaking to The Hans India, the CPI (M) Sircilla district secretary Pantham Ravi said: “Though we have reminded the owners of their promise, there was no response from them. Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao also told the powerloom owners to provide a wage of at least Rs 15,000 a month, but the latter didn’t respond.”
Benefits never percolate to workers, who lie last in the three-tier system of cloth production, he said. It may be noted here that the powerloom industry in Sircilla is based on master weavers, who supply the raw material, then the asamis (local powerloom owners), who will do the job work, and the workers.
Nakka Devadas, a powerloom worker said that asamis were not giving the payment as per the agreement citing that they were not paid by the master weavers. To earn Rs 350 a day, each worker has to run more than 10 powerlooms and work for over 12 hours in the unit. As per the norms, a worker cannot run more than eight looms.
“Workers are getting payment as per the agreement in the units, where master weaver and asami is same,” Mandala Satyam, who himself a master weaver cum asami said, stating that it was difficult for them to pay other benefits to workers as the industry is not all that well.
Meanwhile, the District Collector, Krishna Bhaskar, who held a meeting with the master weavers and asamis on Monday, directed them to ensure the payment to workers as per the wage settlement. He instructed the Labour Department officials to book cases against those who refuse to abide by the law
