Major trade unions seek reopening of NTC mills in TN

Major trade unions on Wednesdayurged the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Labour to takesteps to open all closed NTC mills in Tamil Nadu as over10,000 workers have been rendered jobless for the last oneyear due to the pandemic.

In a memorandum to the Committee Chairman, Bhartuhari,whois on a two day visit to the region,they said only 23 NationalTextile Corporation mills, including seven in the state,out ofthe total of 124 nationalised in 1974, were functioning now.

However these seven mills employing 13,000 workers, hadremained closed since March last year due to the pandemic.

Two of them had reopened recently, but workers weregiven only 50 per cent of the wages, the memorandum said.

The unions claimed that NTC has adequate funds to runthe mills as it had received Rs 1,500 crore from land given toconstruct Ambedkar memorial in Maharashtra and Rs 35 crorefrom the Puducherry government.

In view of this the government should take steps to openthe mills for the benefit of suffering workers, they said.

Coimbatore Textile Workers Unions representatives,including INTUC general Secretary V R Balasundaram, AITUCgeneral secretary and former CPI MLA, M Arumugham, handed overthe memorandum to Bharthruhary In another memorandum, Arumugham urged the committee totake steps to increase wages of tea estate workers in Valparaiin the district from Rs 335 to Rs 600, as their counterpartsin neighbouring Kerala were getting Rs 403.