GST woes: Co-optex staff to picket head office on Aug 7

Condemning the Government for allegedly destroying the livelihood of weavers by imposing GST from 5 per cent to 12 per cent on handloom items, employees of Tamil Nadu Handloom Weavers Co-operative Society Ltd., popularly known as Co-optex, will picket their head office on the Pantheon Road in Egmore on August 7, which is observed as National Handloom Day.

National general secretary of the Co-Optex Employees T. Viswanathan said even the British realised the importance of handloom products and exempted them from tax since Co-optex was established in 1935. “We did not have GST even 70 years after Independence. GST is crushing weavers and will affect their livelihood, he added.” According to Viswanathan, impact on sales due to GST will make weaving that is fast dying extinct. “We want handloom to be exempted from GST considering the fact that most items in this sector are essential commodities such as sarees and mosquito nets,” he added.

Another important issue that will be stressed by the employees during the protest includes condemning their administration for holding back retirement benefits to the tune of several lakhs of rupees from individuals for years after retirement for inability to collect dues for items sold to employees of various government departments.

The trade union leader said that the government should find means to collect it through the departments concerned instead of increasing targets and taking Co-optex employees for a ride. They also pressed for regularising jobs of 200 temporary workers and sought wages according to norms for working on weekly holidays.