Headload workers’ strike in Kerala’s Mattancherry cripples export units 
Kerala

Headload workers’ strike in Kerala’s Mattancherry cripples export units

Over 100 workers have reportedly not been paid their festival advance, allegedly because their average emolument is low.

Written by : TNM Staff

Various trade union organisations that headload workers have been on strike for seven consecutive days in Mattancherry, in Kerala’s Ernakulam district, after the Kerala Headload Workers Welfare Board refused to release their festival advance ahead of Ramzan. This has led to a disruption in loading activities in the port area of Mattancherry, affecting the various export units located in the city.

The All India Spices Exporters Forum (AISF) and other trade associations such as the Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) called for an emergency joint press meet on Tuesday and urged the Kerala government to immediately intervene and end the strike.

According to a report by The New Indian Express, the Kerala Headload Workers Welfare Board was supposed to give the headload workers an amount of Rs 15,000 as festival advance, but the board has not paid this amount to over 100 workers, alleging that the average emoluments of these workers is low and that their advance would depend on the amounts they receive as payment.

The Welfare Board, as per the TNIE report, also claimed that many of the workers had resorted to the illegal practice of directly demanding payment from the organisations they work in, as such wages do not reflect in the accounts of the board.

Addressing the press meet, Madhusudanan Gupta, president of ICCI, said that the export firms are bearing the brunt in this matter for no fault of theirs.

As per a report by the Deccan Chronicle, Gulshan John, the ex-chairman of the AISF, said that exporters failed to fulfil their commitments because of the strike, resulting in huge losses in business.

Stating that flash strikes and retaliation have no place in the present day world economic order, trade associations went on to state that holding the export industry and economy to ransom and making them a soft target should be stopped immediately.