On 20th April, the mill employees of the National Textile Corporation (NTC) in Tamil Nadu will stage protests to demand payment of their wages.
Workers at the seven mills in the State have only been receiving 50 per cent of their salary since May 2020, when the mills were shut down during the lockdown for COVID-19, according to trade union leaders T.S. Rajamani and M. Arumugam.
The workers, however, have not earned even the minimum salary for the past six months. Although the mills have stayed closed since then, about 30 employees still go in every day to maintain the equipment, power supply, security, etc. but, these employees are not being paid.
“A worker spends for petrol when he goes to the mill on his two-wheeler. So, he is spending his money to go to work and is not paid his wages,” said Rajamani.
The trade union representatives demanded that these workers’ wages be paid from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund in a memorandum that was delivered to Coimbatore district Collector Kranthi Kumar Pathi on Thursday. Also, they stated that on 20th April the workers would demonstrate in front of the NTC mills in the State.
“We have approached the Madras High Court and have also submitted a petition to the Central Labour Commissioner. We have met Ministers and officials several times. But, there is no relief for these workers,” said Arumugam.
