Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

MACTA to go on strike in May

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Malayalam Cinema Technicians Association (MACTA) Federation, affiliated to the AITUC, will go on a strike from mid-May in protest against denial of labour rights in the Malayalam film industry.

MACTA president Vinayan and AITUC State general secretary Kanam Rajendran told mediapersons here on Wednesday evening that repeated attempts at the initiative of the Labour Department to settle the pending labour issues, including wage hike, failed to attain fruition due to the arrogance of the Film Producers Association and the Kerala Film Chamber.

The talks slated to be held here on Wednesday in the presence of the Labour Commissioner did not materialise due to the non-cooperation of the association and the chamber. Hence, the federation decided to go on a strike.

The federation would serve strike notice to the association and the chamber soon and organise a convention in Ernakulam on May 9 to protect the rights of cinema workers and create public awareness about the strike.

Cultural leaders and prominent personalities from different walks of life would address the convention which would also chart out a course of action.

The federation which enjoyed the support of 99 per cent of the workers was fighting against the arrogant stance of the producers and the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA), which was supporting the producers to protect its narrow interests. The federation would not desist from laying siege to the shooting locations.

The federation would urge the Chief Minister and the Labour Minister to conduct a referendum to assess the strength of MACTA and FEFKA.

If the result of the referendum was against MACTA, it was ready to dissolve the organisation and join FEFKA. The leaders accused the producers and FEFKA of harassing workers who were members of MACTA, denying them jobs and enticing them with offers to quit the organisation.

Moves were also afoot to stymie the attempts to secure wage hike and workers rights. The federation decided to produce 10 low-budget films involving prominent directors. Mr.Vinayan himself would direct the first film. The capital was being garnered with people’s participation.

Federation general secretary Baiju Kottarakara was also present.

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