Date:06/12/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/12/06/stories/2006120602052100.htm

Back Knitwear workers' wage issue close to settlement

G. Gurumurthy

Accord on four-year period

The last industry-wide wage settlement for the Tirupur knitwear industry initialled in 2003 expired in June 2006

Coimbatore , Dec. 5

The Tirupur knitwear industry workers' wage issue, at a stalemate for over three months now, appears headed for a smooth solution, thanks to breaking of the deadlock in yesterday's tripartite talks over the tenure of the new wage accord.

In the talks held before with the Joint Commissioner of Labour (JCL), Coimbatore, Mr Vridhagiri, both the knitwear industries representatives and the six-union joint committee leaders agreed `unanimously' for a four-year wage settlement, according to trade union and knitwear management sources.

The tenure of the new wage settlement had all along remained the bone of contention between both sides that prevented progress in the bilateral wage negotiation in the past six months.

The knitwear factory owners bodies, insisting on a five-year wage accord format, refused to come down from their original stand, while the major knitwear workers unions, too, were not ready to give up their three-year wage format followed inthe last two decades. The JCL, during the three rounds of conciliatory talks, managed to narrow down the gap and prevailed upon the two sides to work on a four-year wage formula.

"We have now agreed to this suggestion and work for evolving a four-year wage accord and this decision was reached without any pre-condition in the talks," said Mr S. Muthukumarasamy, Secretary of the MLF, one of the six workers unions taking part in the talks.

Previous settlement

The last industry-wide wage settlement for the Tirupur knitwear industry initialled in 2003 expired in June 2006 and the major trade unions had since been holding parleys with the industry trade bodies on a 13-point renewed demand.

Other issues

Having crossed the major hurdle in fixing the tenure, "we have now decided to resume the bilateral talks with the trade unions with a view to sorting out other issues, including evolving the broad cantors of a new wage structure. The first bilateral talks will be held tomorrow in Tirupur," said Mr G. Karthikeyan,