Alappuzha: Traditional industries in Kerala have been in the doldrums for decades. The coir sector is one such that is struggling despite numerous government interventions. Adding to worries another stir is round the corner soon after small-scale coir factory owners ended their strike following the minister's assurance. Now, a stir demanding wage hike for coir weavers has been announced.

A joint forum of trade unions, named Samyuktha Samara Samithi, will hold a token stir on June 21. The council consists of leading trade unions — the CITU, AITUC, BMS and UTUC.

It was in 2018 that the wages of coir weavers were hiked for the last time. A worker gets Rs 300 for weaving 50 'mudis' (pieces) of coir (1 mudi = 11 metre of coir yarn). Of this, Rs 190 is fixed as wages and the rest of the amount is considered as an aid as per the Income Support Scheme.

Major demands

The main demands of workers are increase in wages, timely allotment of money for coir societies by the Coirfed and granting permission for coir societies to procure fibre independently.

According to the unions, almost 1,10,000 workers from the Ambalapuzha and Cherthala taluks are employed in the sector. Of this, almost 98 percent of workers are women.

Due to lack of attractive wages, no freshers are coming to the field. In coir factories where there are more number of male workers, the price of coir products has not yet been hiked.

With the increase in the price of raw material, the immediate price hike of coir products is necessary to ensure the survival of factories.

Recent agitation

The small-time coir factory owners belonging to the Ambalapuzha and Cherthala taluks recently went on an agitation for 17 days in protest against the non-receival of orders from export companies.

Finally, they called off their agitation after Industry and Coir Minister P Rajeeve assured them that complaints regarding the price of products would be solved, and coir factories would be given orders by the exporting firms through the Coir Corporation.