Workers’ strike demanding better wages brings Telugu film industry to a grinding halt
The Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce, while agreeing to hold talks with the workers, however, said that the strike was illegal as the workers did not give the 15-day notice.
At least 20,000 workers of the Telugu film industry, also known as Tollywood, demanding better wages abstained from work Wednesday affecting the shooting schedules of at least a dozen films.
The cinema workers have at least 10 different associations and unions and all of them have joined the strike. The workers gathered at Krishna Nagar in Hyderabad to stage a protest outside the Telugu Film Industry Federation in the morning.
V Anil, a representative of the Cine Workers Association, said that the Telugu Film Chamber has not been heeding their requests to increase the wages of workers—from spot boys to camera assistants to dance artists—for many months.
“Many film producers do not pay the workers on time also. Wages are kept pending for weeks, even months. Budgets for Telugu films have grown exponentially but wages of workers have remained low. Prices of movie tickets have been raised. Actors and cine artists have raised their fees but we have been left out. Workers feel exploited too because wages have not been increased since 2018. We are fighting for our rights now,’’ said Anil.
The Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce, while agreeing to hold talks with the workers, however, said that the strike was illegal as the workers did not give the 15-day notice. Chamber president K Rama Krishna said that they were willing to negotiate with the workers. “They should have given us a notice of their strike which they have not. We will hold talks,’’ said Krishna.
He said that a decision would be taken at a film producers council meeting to be held in the evening.
However, representatives of the cinema workers said that they have been talking with the film federation and chamber representatives for several days and tried to raise the issue but were cold-shouldered.
Workers’ representatives also complained that some producers tried to break their unity by luring workers with extra wages to make them get back to work. Some recruiters also allegedly cleared pending dues of some workers in a haste to deter them from joining the strike.
