The Hindu Business Line : TN notifies minimum pay for textile apprentices

Coimbatore, May 30 The Tamil Nadu Government has for the first time come out with a draft notification fixing minimum wages for apprentices employed in textile mills in the State.

The draft notification dated May 16, 2008 issued by the Department of Labour and Employment has proposed a minimum basic rate of wages payable to the apprentices at Rs 110 per day. In addition to this, it has also envisaged payment of dearness allowance linked to the consumer price index (Chennai city) pegged at 475 points (with the base year 1982 at 100) with every point rise over and above 475 getting an increase of 23 paise.

The notification issued under Section 5 of the Minimum Wages Act 1948 covers the apprentices employed in composite textile mills or spinning, weaving or open-ended textile mills involving various work processes such as blow-room, carding, drawing, fly-frames, spinning, winding, doubling, reeling, packing, warping, sizing and such other processes carried out singly or together.

The proposed minimum wages will apply equally for both men and women apprentices. Wherever the existing wages remains higher than the proposed minimum wages, they will be continued.

The payment of DA, as per the draft, will be calculated annually on April 1 on the basis of average of the indices applicable for the preceding 12 months.

The Government has given two months time from the date of publication of the notification (the gazette published the notification on May 28, 2008) to receive suggestions/objections, if any, from the public and initiate further action.

Tamil Nadu has initiated the proceedings to include the textile mills in the schedule of employments coming under the minimum Act in January 2007 in the face of textile mill workers persistent complaints of spread of contracted employment practices at low wages and delay in getting the passage of an industry-wide wage accord by the special industrial tribunal constituted by the government.

The special tribunal continues to adjudicate the wage dispute of the textile mill workers pending since 1999.

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