Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Monday, Jun 23, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version | Audio
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Monday, Jun 23, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version | Audio |
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Agri-Biz & Commodities
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Trade & Labour Unions States - West Bengal All-India jute workers’ body to be formed in Kolkata Of the 94 jute mills in the country 84 were located in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh and ‘in both these States, the wages of jute workers are under relentless assault.’ Our Bureau Vizianagaram, June 22 The Indian Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) is forming an All-India Federation of Jute Workers’ Unions in Kolkata on July 6, said Mr Paltu Sen, national president of the union. He was addressing the first State-level convention of jute workers organised by the State committee of the IFTU here on Sunday, as a prelude to the formation of the federation in Kolkata. Mr Sen said a multi-tier wage system is in vogue in the labour-intensive jute industry, with hardly 30-35 per cent of the workers in the permanent category and the rest being contract or casual labourers under different names such as badili workers, voucher workers and others. The managements are resorting to unfair practices and wage-cuts have become the order of the day in the past decade, he alleged. Mr Sen also found fault with the major national trade unions – INTUC, CITU, AITUC and BMS – for “betraying the cause of jute workers” and said the IFTU was striving to protect the interests of workers. However, he said, in spite of these differences, IFTU would try to bring different unions under one umbrella at the Kolkata convention for achieving common goals. Mr B. Pradeep, General Secretary of IFTU, said there was no wage board for jute workers in Andhra Pradesh and IFTU had been seeking the formation of one for a long time. “There is a wage board in West Bengal and of course there are wage anomalies, but at least there is some order. The AP Government should also constitute a wage board,” he demanded. He said that of the 94 jute mills in the country 84 were located in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh and “in both these States, the wages of jute workers are under relentless assault. As the inflation soars to 11 per cent, the jute workers are not even getting a subsistence wage. Ironically, they are asked by the managements to agree voluntarily for wage-cuts.” Mr P. Prasad, convener of the State Jute Workers’ Co-ordination Committee, narrated the struggle of Nellimarla jute workers in Vizianagaram district in 1994, when five workers lost their lives in a bid to force the management to re-open the mill after a lock-out. The sacrifice of the workers was remembered at the convention. Mr S. Venkateswara Rao, State president of the IFTU, and several others spoke. More Stories on : Trade & Labour Unions | Tobacco | West Bengal
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