Trade union representatives from Coimbatore have urged the Union textile minister Smriti Irani to resolve the payment issues faced by National Textile Corporation (NTC) mill workers. The seven NTC mills in Tamil Nadu employ around 1,400 regular workers. On May 31, 2018, the four-year wage agreement of these workers had expired. NTC workers recently sent a wage hike demand to its Southern Region office seeking a 50 per cent increase in basic wages and finalising the employment of workers who had worked for 480 days. It also sought Rs. 421 a day for casual workers.
The management had neither invited them for proper talks nor arrived at a solution, forcing the workers to hold demand meetings and wear demand cards to the mills. On August 7, a group of trade union leaders met the Union textile minister and sought her intervention. The minister assured them that necessary steps would be taken.
