After a month-long strike and repeated sit-in protests by workers of hot rolling steel mills in Wazirpur, the owners of 23 mills on Monday agreed to give the workers eight-hour shifts and pay them minimum wages.
Over 800 workers in the 23 plants struck work on June 5 protesting their working conditions, denial of minimum wages and legal benefits. Owners of the hot rolling steel mills said they had resumed production on June 27 after an agreement was signed in the presence of labour officials, but labour officials and workers disputed this. “After receiving workers’ complaint that they were not allowed to enter the plant premises by the owners on June 28, 29, we issued show cause notices to the plant owners for violating the Industrial Disputes Act, and gave them time to respond till Monday,” said a labour official at the labour court at Nimdi Colony.
The workers claimed they found the plant gates locked when they tried to enter the plants a day after the agreement was signed on June 27. “They sent goons to the areas where our demonstration was passing through. The plant owners wanted to provoke us into violence so that our strike becomes invalid,” said Jai Prakash, a worker.
While a few workers returned to work on June 28, workers from 15 cold rolling steel mills also joined the strike.
On Monday, the owners of the 23 plants agreed to pay Rs.10,374 to skilled workers and Rs.8,918 to semi-skilled workers as per the minimum wage norms for nine-hour work shifts, which will include a lunch break and two tea breaks.
“There were no problems or resistance. We had begun work on June 27. We have been paying minimum wages. What we have agreed to now will only reduce the working hours and the plants will not run 24 hours like before,” said Jai Kumar Bansal, president Garam Rolla Employers Association.
Source: Hindu Business Line
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