Mumbai, Oct 3 (IANS): The strike by the members of the Federation of Western Indian Cine Employees (FWICE) against the Producers Association was unsuccessful, says JD Majethia, producer and Co-chairman of the Indian Film and TV Producers Council (IFTPC) as everybody, barring a few, were at work. Also, nobody has a problem with the issues raised by those on strike.
Members of FWICE had gone on strike from Saturday demanding better wages and improved working conditions.
But according to Majethia, there was some miscommunication which led to the strike, with a few people having vested interests.
“The strike was not successful, there was some miscommunication initially but all the workers came to work ultimately. The ground reality is that they all are happy, they all know they are being paid well, on time and working conditions are also good," Majethia told IANS over phone.
Saying that the picture projected is only by those people who have "vested interests". Majethia stressed that these “elements” were unsuccessful.
He Said that the two associations (FWICE and Producer's association) are in talks and added: “ On Friday night, we offered them that 'you withdraw the strike and we can still talk while we work' but they did not accept it. They wanted to go ahead with the strike.”
Reportedly, one of the issues as raised by the FWICE is that the working conditions are unhygienic.
Replying to the allegation, Majethia said the workers are themselves responsible for the atmosphere.
“Hygiene comes from the workers themselves, they are themselves responsible for the atmosphere. They spit anywhere, they eat 'Guthka' (chewable tobacco). Is a producer supposed to go and clean that up?...the toilets, bathrooms, all the sets have cleaners and sweepers on their respective sets. But everybody needs to collectively maintain it,” he said.
“Usually actors are not the ones who eat paan etc, because they are constantly on the scene, so we will get to know if the artists are doing this, rest of the crew and cast is there,” he added.
The producer claimed that some FWICE members were spreading canards and concealing the truth.
The tussle between the Producers Association and FWICE has been going on since February when their memorandum of understanding (MoU) expired and both the parties couldn't agree to a renewal.