Vellore
According to J Ruban, general secretary of Ambur-based TN Trade Union Centre, “tanneries in and around Ambur town are working despite the lockdown. Many units sent vehicles to pick up workers from outlying villages to run their establishments.”
Kavitha (40), a resident of Pachakuppam and a worker in an Ambur tannery, said, “to be honest we are scared about working in proximity as we could catch the virus. On the other hand, the management will not pay us if we do not work, and this will affect our families financially.”
Azad (45), a worker from Ambur town, said, “we do not know for how many days we will work once the present soaked hides are cleared. And the lockdown poses the threat losing our livelihood any time. As most of us rely on tanneries, we cannot afford to antagonise the management.”
Asked whether trade unions had talked to managements, Ruban said “we told them to either use 50 pc workers or keep all inside the premises providing them food till their pending work was over, but they refused to heed our demands. They said such a move would be too costly.”
Collector MP Sivan Arul said, “the problem is that many are export oriented units, which are exempted from the lockdown, while in other units work cannot be stopped immediately as they have soaked skins for leather manufacture. We have told them to wind up work as quickly as possible, though some volunteered to wait till Ramzan.”
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