Date:06/10/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/10/06/stories/2006100610500100.htm

Front Page

Hopes soar over Deepavali bonus

M. Gunasekaran

TIRUPUR: Even as stalemate continues over talks for wage agreement for around two lakh hosiery workers, negotiations for Deepavali bonus began with a happy note ahead of the festival.

According to trade union sources, bonus talks have been successfully completed in two major firms which employ more than 1,000 workers each.

In the industrial town of Tirupur, extending bonus to the workforce right from a helper in a petty shop to a production in-charge at a leading export firm becomes a way of life.

Tirupur Exporters' Association (TEA) secretary G. Karthikeyan says according to a conservative estimate, the workers will get not less than Rs.150 crore bonus this year. Though most of the companies usually give 8.33 per cent bonus, there are a few leading firms that could give bonus of up to 35 per cent. On an average, workers in Tirupur get 15.5 per cent bonus, says Mr. Karthikeyan.

Leaving the matter of fixing the percentage to factory level based on performance, TEA asked its members not to give more than that of last year's bonus.

Similarly, South India Hosiery Manufacturers'Association also left the matter to its members by giving a broad outline.

The disbursal of bonus will begin from this Saturday, the salary day of Tirupur and 90 per cent of the companies will complete the disbursal by October 14.

Royal Classic Group chairman R. Gopal says though those who went for vertical integration and capacity expansion did well, 25 per cent of small and medium factories had the problem of underutilisation in the last couple of months. Small-scale unit workers were the worst-hit owing to shortage of jobs.

On an overage, a tailor gets a bonus of Rs. 6,000. The amount varies for others based on their performance. Workers of textile processing houses can't entertain big hopes as the sector was facing severe financial crisis because of adherence to environmental norms.