The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Beedi workers demand arrears

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Tuesday, Jan 06, 2009
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Beedi workers demand arrears

Special Correspondent

Managements urged to implement pact with the workers’ unions

They want each worker to be paid Rs. 4,500
‘Their wages are as low as Rs. 25 per 1,000 beedis in interior areas of the State’

— Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

Demands: Members of Karnataka State beedi workers’ federation staging a protest in Bangalore on Monday.

Bangalore: Beedi workers who belong to the Karnataka State Beedi Workers’ Federation, affiliated to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), staged a dharna before the Labour Commissioner’s Office in Bangalore on Monday demanding the payment of wage arrears.

The agitating workers demanded that the managements implement the agreement they signed with the workers’ unions in January 2007 which was to be implemented by July 2007. In particular, they want the beedi companies to payment wage arrears for three years, amounting to about Rs. 4,500 a worker.

Syed Mujib, general secretary of the federation, said the union’s application for permission from the Labour Commissioner to prosecute the employers for their failure to abide by the terms of the agreement had been pending for over a year. He said the Additional Commissioner asked them to seek permission under the Industrial Disputes Act, following which he could launch proceedings for recovery of wage arrears as land revenue dues from the employers.

V.J.K. Nair, president, Karnataka State Committee of the CITU, told The Hindu that the settlement was reached after “protracted negotiations” with the managements in the organised segment of the beedi industry in the State. He said there are about six lakh workers in the organised segment of the industry who are covered by the provisions of the Beedi and Cigar Workers Act, 1966. The union demanded that the Labour Department conduct a special drive to distribute work log books and identity cards to workers.

Mr. Mujib said the agreement resulted in a minimum daily wage of Rs. 62.50 for rolling 1,000 beedis for workers in the State. “However, wages are as low as Rs. 25 per 1,000 beedis in interior areas of the State,” he said. He claimed that 75 to 80 per cent of the workers in the beedi industry do not get minimum wages.

Mr. Nair said the arrears had been paid by the companies in areas where the unions were strong. He alleged that the agreement had not been implemented in many parts of the State.

He reckons about one lakh workers, out of about six lakh workers in the organised segment, have benefitted. He pointed out that workforce in the unorganised segment, remains “unprotected from exploitation.” Mr. Nair said the CITU had planned a rally in the city on February 5, demanding payment of minimum wages in the State.

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