Kerala   

Tough times for beedi workers

KASARAGOD: Thousands of beedi workers in Kasaragod district who work under middlemen for big beedi manufacturers based in Karnataka are yet to receive minimum wages and other benefits due to them years after the Kerala and the Karnataka governments enacted laws prescribing minimum wages and other benefits for the workers in the beedi-cigar sector.

Trade unions here said the district had around one lakh workers in the sector.

However, under the present system, they were not directly under the big factory owners.

The Mangalore-based beedi manufacturers had arrangements with middlemen, termed contractors, here to supply processed beedis to them.

The contractors employed the workers and supplied them with raw materials. The finished beedis were taken back by the contractors who provide the workers with salaries.

T. Krishnan, district secretary, All India Trade Union Congress, said though the manufacturers had agreed to provide minimum wages existing in Karnataka to the beedi workers in Kasaragod, the contractors rarely provided it.

The minimum wage fixed for beedi workers in Karnataka is lesser than the minimum wage fixed by the Kerala government.

While the minimum wage fixed by the Karnataka government is Rs.61.45 for every 1,000 beedis produced by a worker, in Kerala it is Rs.83.6 for every 1,000 beedis.

However, workers here are given final wages ranging from Rs.40 to Rs.50 by contractors who cut the wages citing several reasons.

Mr. Krishnan said the contractors also did not provide the bonus fixed by the governments to the workers.

Of the one lakh workers in the beedi manufacturing sector here, only 32,000 workers had been provided workers identity cards by the contractors, he said.

Only those with identity cards were eligible to enjoy the fruits of welfare measures of the Central welfare board for beedi and cigar workers, he said.

While workers with identity cards got the benefit of employees’ provident fund, pension schemes and free medical treatment and their children were entitled to various scholarships, a majority of the workers who were denied identity cards failed to get anything, Mr. Krishnan said.

Trade union leaders said workers employed by the contractors got only two to three days work every week and their wages were not enough for subsistence.

The contractors threatened to relocate the industry to other States whenever there was unrest among the workers regarding the meagre wages and other issues, Mr. Krishnan said.

The trade unions said the exploitation by contractors could be reduced to a great extent if the State Labour Department took strict action. They said they had discussed the issue with Labour Minister P.K. Gurudasan and he had shown a sympathetic attitude towards issues of beedi workers.

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