News & Pics: R B Jagadish
Daijiworld Media Network – Karkala (EP)
Karkala, Nov 21: Nitte Lamina Foundries Limited employees protested on Friday, November 21 on the streets against what they termed as injustice against them by the management of the company.
The workers came walking from Nitte Lamina Foundries via Doopadakatte, Parpale, Kuntalpadi and Anekere to the town bus stand. They then went to Tehsildar office via the market and submitted an appeal to Tehsildar Raghavendra.
The agreement between the employees and the management had broken. The employees union demanded an increase of at least Rs 1,150. It was inevitable to pay the increased salary retrospectively since the last three years in the present situation. The management has not fulfilled the demands due to its stubbornness, alleged the protesters. They also requested Tehsildar to support their agitation.
The employees working for the last thirty five years have been paid only between Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000. The management is not interested in increasing their salary, alleged the protesters.
Employees working on contract basis were paid higher salary. The contractors, who keep the workers in their control, loot several lacs of rupees, but the management is not bothered, informed the protesters.
The company was filled by anomalies. They were doing nothing with regard to the health of the workers. The officials who come to supervise the mismanagement also take sides of the management. An employee had died six months ago, but the company showed no remorse.
CITU leader Vasanth Acharya said that the indefinite protests in front of the company will continue if the worker’s demands were not met.
CITU intervention scares businessmen:
Cashew business gets priority in Karkala Taluk. Maximum numbers of people are employed in Cashew factories. The employers did not have to submit to the demands of the employees. Though BMS of Sangha Pariwar is strong all over the state, their activities have remained away from the Taluk as most employers of Cashew factories are identified in Sangha Pariwar and holding important positions in it.
INTUC of Congress has no presence in the Taluk limits. So employees have preferred CITU of the left wing in the Taluk. It has shown its strength on Friday. Nearly 250 employees of Lamina have come forward to protest under the banner of CITU. The recent developments have made the employers scared.