Strike withdrawn, powerlooms to function from tomorrow

The 34-day old indefinite strike by owners of Powerloom Job Working units demanding 80 per cent wage increase came to an end today following an agreement giving a marginal increase by master weavers.
The tripartite talks between representatives of job workers, textiles manufacturers association and the District Collector bore fruit this afternoon with the master weavers agreeing to pay 30 per cent increase in the wages for job workers in Somanur and 27 per cent increase for other working units considering the grade of the fabric, Velusamy, President of Palladam Powerloom Job workers association said.
The powerloom units will start function from tomorrow, he said, adding, the workers have accepted the increase considering the present situation of the industry.

There was a production loss of about Rs.1,500 crores due to the strike which would seriously affect the textile industry, Velusamy said.
Nearly 15,000 job working units involving two lakh powerlooms in Coimbatore and Tirupur Districts were on strike from February 21.