February 5, 2016
Tripartite talks, headed by the District Collectors of Tirupur and Coimbatore, to end the indefinite strike by Power Loom Job Working Unit owners, failed to yield any result and was postponed to February 9.
Collectors, Archana Patnaik of Coimbatore and Jayandhi of Tirupur, had convened the meeting of owners of job working units and cloth manufacturers, as unit owners were on indefinite strike since January 28, demanding payment of wages as per the agreement reached in 2014.
The job working weavers alleged that the manufacturers had paid the increased wages – 27 per cent – for the first couple of months, but reverted to old wages, putting them into lot of hardships.
Even as the strike entered the eighth day, causing a production loss of nearly Rs. 400 crore, the Collectors held conciliatory talk with the stakeholders last night. However, the talks remained inconclusive as both sides did not arrive at a consensus.
The power loom units will continue their indefinite strike, but have postponed their plan for indefinite hunger strike and also deferred proposed demonstrations across Coimbatore and Tirupur districts till Tuesday.