Relay hunger strike by powerloom unit from tomorrow

:Powerloom unit owners and workers in Coimbatore and Tirupur districts will go on a relay hunger strike from tomorrow as tripartite talks to find a solution to the wage issue of job working units remained inconclusive.
The units have been on an indefinite strike from April 2.
The talks were convened by Coimbatore District Collector T N Hariharan, in which officials from the Labour Department, representatives of textile manufacturers and job working units participated.
At the meet, held in the presence of both Collectors, demands were put forth for payment of full wages as agreed in 2014 in as manufacturers had reportedly stopped paying the new wages after a few months.

R Palniswamy, president of Coimbatore district powerloom job working unit association, allged that despite going on an indefinite strike and staging various types of agitations, the manufacturers had refused to pay full wages and also arrears, even as the new wage settlement is to be reached this year.
This had led to lot of financial difficulty to owners, who run nearly two lakh power looms,he said,adding the association had for long remained silent, considering the prevailing political situation in Tamil Nadu, but had gone on indefinite strike from April 2.
Government officials and representatives of powerloom owners association participated in the talks today, whereas only a few manufacturers attended, as a result of which the issue could be discussed in detail.

In view of this the collector postponed the talks to April 24, he said, adding that unit owners decided to observe relay hunger strike from tomorrow onwards.