Jaggery workers demand higher wages, go on strike

Workers at Anakapalli are demanding a wage hike of 30%

Jaggery worth Rs 2.5 crore is lying at open stockyards in Anakapalli due to a strike called by workers, who are demanding a hike in wages.

Anakapalli Jaggery Merchants Association president KLN Rao said every two year there was a wage revision agreement between workers and jaggery traders. This time the workers were demanding a hike of 30 per cent, which traders are not ready to accept. As a result, workers have gone on a strike from April 1, he added.

Since jaggery arrivals here are usual, this has resulted in a stock of about 70,000 lumps (each lump contains 15 kg).

In 2011, traders offered a hike of 24 percent. This time they have offered a hike of up to 20 per cent, but want a written guarantee from workers on reducing wastage while handling, Rao said. "At the time of unloading, packing, stocking and reloading, more than 2 per cent of jaggery is damaged and this leads to heavy losses. We are asking workers to reduce the wastage to below one per cent," Buchi Raju, a trader, said.

The association is making efforts to resolve the issue and expects to arrive at a solution in a couple of days, according to Rao.