Demanding a hike in their daily wages and the prices of cloth production, more than 2,000 powerloom workers, along with their family members, staged a ‘rasta roko’ at the tahsildar’s office at Nagari on Wednesday, disrupting the traffic on the busy Tirupati-Chennai National Highway for about two hours.
The powerloom workers and small weavers have been pressing for their demands for the last nine days. The weavers are demanding that the production cost of cotton cloth be increased by ₹30 per metre from the ₹10 now. The powerloom workers are demanding hike in their daily wages, citing hefty power bills as the tariff was revised three months ago. However, the investors say no their demands, citing high costs of yarn and other material.
The protesters sought the revenue and police officials to intervene and settle the issues.
Police personnel from Nagari, Nindra and Vikayapuram urged the protesters to give way to the stranded traffic. The officials assured them that they would arrange a meeting with the investors and Labour Department officials.
Meanwhile, the leaders of the BJP, the TDP, the Jana Sena Party, the Congress and trade unions of the CITU and the AITUC extended solidarity with the workers.
