With less than a week for Deepavali, bonus talks are still on at several industries in Coimbatore district.
Trade union leaders say it is a tough year as all manufacturing industries are hit by economic slowdown, drop in demand and delayed payments.
According to V. Perumal of Coimbatore District General Engineering and Mechanical Workers’ Union (CITU), agreements have been reached in some units, some others have even disbursed the amount and in some units bonus talks are starting only now. “The talks are getting delayed even to arrive at a settlement for last year’s level,” he says.
This trend is seen in pumpset manufacturing industries, foundries, and even in some jewellery units. The main reason is the policy of the Union Government. Industries are facing problems on various fronts and hence, are hit by financial crunch, he points out.
In the case of textiles, M. Arumugam (AITUC) says about 6,000 workers of seven National Textile Corporation mills in the State will get Rs. 7,000 as bonus. The permanent workers will get Rs. 10,000 as recoverable advance. In the other textile mills, the bonus is almost the same as last year or lesser. “Many mills are said to be considering operating only for five days a week. In such a situation, we do not want to go on strike. We are hopeful that all the mills will complete the disbursement before the festival,” he said.
In the plantation sector, sources in the industry and unions say that some plantations have a three-year agreement with the workers and bonus is disbursed accordingly. The others are also expected to make the payments, though it could be just the 8.33 per cent.
The micro units in the district have also started bonus disbursement. The permanent workers get two-and-a-half month salary as bonus. In general, the workers get a minimum of 15-days’ wages as bonus.
Though orders have declined, most of the units have started making the bonus payments, says S. Ravi Kumar, president of Coimbatore and Tirupur Districts Micro and Cottage Entrepreneurs’ Association.
