DMK president M. Karunanidhi on Thursday demanded that the Centre intervene and resolve the strike by 13,000 contract workers of the Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC).
“As a constituent of the Congress-led UPA, I urge the Centre to waste no time and hold talks with the workers to find an amicable solution,” he said in a statement.
Mr. Karunanidhi also appealed to the workers to give up their protest and resume work in the interest of their family members and power generation in the State, since the government was not at all interested in their welfare.
He said though talks at the official level was continuing, neither the Chief Minister nor her Cabinet colleagues had shown any interest in resolving the crisis.
Recalling Labour Minister S.T. Chellapandian's averment in the Assembly that only the Centre could end the strike through its Labour Department, Mr. Karunanidhi said when the DMK was in power he intervened to ensure a tripartite agreement in 2008 to end the strike then.
