Trade union members recently submitted a letter to the employers urging them to fulfill their various demands including increase in Deepavali bonus. They also insisted that bonus should be given a week ahead of Deepavali and even piece rate workers be given bonus.

N Sekar, general secretary of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) Baniyan Labour Union, said, “The Bonus Act was introduced in 1965, and the Deepavali bonus should be given to workers depending on the company’s profit and production. In the beginning, bonus was paid at the end of each financial year, then it turned into a custom of providing the bonus during the festive occasion of Deepavali.”

He added, “As far as Tiruppur knitwear sector is concerned, there are 8 lakh workers directly dependent on this sector. In this, about 3 lakh workers are from North-Indian states. In this, a worker is eligible to get a bonus if he works for a company for at least 30 days and a minimum bonus is 8.33 per cent of the worker’s salary.

In Tiruppur, knitwear owners offer bonuses at various percentages based on the worker’s experience. In this, we urge the companies to give an additional percentage bonus to the workers this year than what they gave last year due to a rise in commodity prices.”

“In recent years, knitwear manufacturers have been introducing a piece rate system among workers in Tiruppur and piece rate workers can earn more per day than shift workers. However, most of the companies do not provide facilities like ESI and PF, and they also do not provide bonuses to piece-rate workers. But as per the law, they should also be given a bonus. We are also emphasising that as well. We have also issued a letter regarding this to the employers’ associations,” he further added.

K Ramakrishnan, general secretary of the Labour Progressive Federation (LPF), Baniyan, said, “Bonus should be given to the workers one week before Deepavali. Workers cannot celebrate the festival if bonus is given at the last moment.”

K M Subramanian, President of Tiruppur Exporters’ Association, said, “We have advised the manufacturers to give bonus to workers early. Bonus will be given to all the workers following the norms. The knitwear companies will also give it to piece-rate workers by following the norms. Companies are likely to complete the process of giving it to workers by October 21.”

Published on: 17th October 2024 

Source: New Indian Express