COIMBATORE: Powerloom job workers in Coimbatore and Tirupur district on Friday commenced their fasting protest demanding wage revision.

The workers, who had been on an indefinite strike since March 19, intensified their protest by going on a fast until April 15 from 9 am to 5 pm. The wages were last revised in 2022 by 19 per cent after several rounds of protests.

However, after three months, the wages were reduced to what it was in 2014. The job working powerloom weavers have insisted on a wage hike of up to 60 per cent in tune with an increase in electricity charges, labour charges, and prices of raw materials.

Hundreds of members from the Coimbatore and Tirupur District Powerloom (wage earners) Owners Association began their fasting protest in Somanur.

They urged District Collectors of Coimbatore and Tirupur to hold talks with textile manufacturers to arrive at a solution by implementing wage revision.

ER Eswaran, general secretary of Kongunadu Makkal Desia Katchi (KMDK) participated in the protest.

The protesting powerloom weavers claimed that a consensus over wage revision could not be achieved despite the holding of talks four times by District Collectors of Coimbatore and Tirupur.

Besides the powerloom workers, hundreds of job-working units involved in sizing, dyeing, knitting, weaving, printing, stitching, packing, and ironing have also been hit by the ongoing protests.