Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

Powerloom strike continues

— Photo: M. Balaji

A Deserving diet: A gruel centre opened in Somanur in Coimbatore district on Friday.

COIMBATORE: Even as the strike by job working powerloom units in the district continued for the seventh day on Friday, talks held in Tirupur on Friday to find a solution remained inconclusive.

Minister for Rural Industries and Animal Husbandry Pongalur N. Palanisamy and District Collector V. Palanikumar had talks with the textile manufacturers, job working powerloom unit owners and representatives of the labour unions to arrive at a settlement.

The job working unit owners are demanding a 100 per cent increase in wages. The previous wage revision was in 2005.

However, the manufacturers contend that with a slow down in the market they will not be able to increase the wages now. They say that as stocks of textile fabric have piled up with them, they need time for continuing the talks.

Meanwhile, some of the trade unions have announced a protest in Mangalam on August 26.

According to the District Council secretary of AITUC, N. Selvaraj, the textile manufacturers have not come forward to find a solution to the issue.

No date has been fixed for the next round of talks.

The job working units announced indefinite strike on Saturday and the delay in arriving at a settlement will lead to unrest among workers.

“If need be, the unions will plan a series of protests,” he said.

The district has about two lakh powerlooms employing nearly two lakh workers directly. Some of the voluntary organisations and labour unions opened gruel centres (kanji thotti) in Palladam taluk and Somanur on Friday and distributed gruel to the workers.

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