Strike in tollywood likely to be called off
Hyderabad: Thirteen days after workers belonging to all the 24 trades in the film industry struck work seeking higher wages, an end appears to be in sight finally.
Following four days of internal discussions after the Telugu Film Producers Council threw the ball in their court, office-bearers of the A.P. Film Industry Employees Federation (APFIEF) are all set to call off the strike.
With the industry hit by the second strike in less than six months, things have gone awry since April 7. Shooting schedules were thrown out of gear, as were the dates given by stars.
Loss to the producers is estimated to be around Rs. 75 crore. But this time they stuck to their guns, agreeing for a wage increase of 32 per cent across the board for all the 24 trades.
However, associations pertaining to only 17 of the 24 trades agreed to the 32 per cent salary increase and the remaining seven stuck to their stand since Sunday last, seeking nothing less than a 60 per cent increase.
The seven trades that took longer than the others to be convinced to agree for a 32 per cent increase in wages include lightmen, outdoor technicians, production assistants, fighters, costumers, studio workers/carpenters, and women workers involved in house keeping duties.
Federation president Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao said that on Thursday afternoon, a delegation comprising office-bearers of the federation would meet representatives of the Telugu Film Producers Council. 'We only need to confirm that the increase in wages will be with effect from March 1 this year,' he said.
News Posted: 21 April, 2011
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