The Hindu Business Line : Jute mills workers hold rally

STRIKING WORKERS of three jute mills in Vizianagaram district taking out a rally at Padmanabham village in Visakhapatnam district demanding a wage hike. As many as 12,000 workers in the three mills, belonging to Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram, are participating in the strike. - C.V. Subrahmanyam

Visakhapatnam , March 15

The striking workers of three jute mills in Vizianagaram district - East Coast Mill, Aruna Jute Mill and Bobbili Mill - have decided to intensify their struggle for a better wage for `badili' workers. More than 12,000 workers of the three composite mills have been on strike since February 22. All the mills belong to the Bengal-based Hooghly group.

They took out a procession at Padmanabham in Visakhapatnam district on Wednesday under the leadership of Mr Prasad of the Indian Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), and decided to step up the agitation, as the management was "unresponsive."

Addressing the workers, Mr Prasad alleged that the managements of jute mills, both in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, were flouting the basic principle of "equal wage for equal work. It is really unfortunate that even in West Bengal, where the Left parties are in power, the unions are signing basically unjust agreements. The wage of badili workers in Bengal has been reduced to Rs 100 per day and in many mills in Andhra Pradesh it ranges between Rs 85 and Rs90 a day. In fact, there should be no discrimination between a permanent worker and badili worker as far as wages are concerned, though the number of working days may be less in the case of the latter," he explained.

Several flawed wage agreements have been signed in Andhra Pradesh as well as West Bengal, he said.

"In the Sri Krishna Jute Mill at Eluru, the badili rate was fixed at Rs 90 a day and Rs 85 a day in the mills at Kotturu and Guntur. In the recent agreement at Chittivalasa Mill, the management agreed to pay the highest prevailing badili rate in the State (Rs 90 a day)," he said.

After the failure of wage negotiations, workers of the three jute mills in Vizianagaram had taken "a brave decision" to go on strike.

"The management has agreed to pay Rs 105 a day. But we want a better wage, at least Rs 122 a day for the badili worker and we will strive to achieve it," he said.

He gave a call to the workers residing in Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram districts to intensify the agitation.

He said the workers would stage a demonstration in front of the Vizianagaram Collectorate on March 24 along with their families and would hold talks with the Collector the next day. If no solution is arrived at, workers would resort to "rasta roko" on March 31, he said.

More Stories on : Jute | Trade & Labour Unions | Andhra Pradesh

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