The Labour department will conduct a meeting on November 27 to discuss the wage hike of cashew labourers, a long-standing demand of various trade unions.
Following an earlier meeting chaired by Labour Minister V Sivankutty, a committee was formed to study the issues and submit a report. The committee that included representatives of labourers and processors conducted sittings across the State to collect data. Based on the report, an Industrial Relations Committee (IRC) meeting will be held next week in the presence of the Labour Commissioner to resolve the issue. The labourers have been demanding government intervention to implement wage revision for a while, but no decisions were taken at the IRC meeting held earlier. While labourers say their wages have remained stagnant for nearly a decade, many processing units see partial mechanisation as a means to bring down operating costs. The absence of proper facilities to weight nuts is another issue pointed out by the labourers. Most processors consider mechanisation as a pre-requisite for wage revision in the crisis-hit industry. “Through partial mechanisation we can increase production while retaining all the labourers in shelling, peeling and grading sections. We all agree that cashew labourers are underpaid, but mechanisation is the only way to hike their wages,” said a processor. The Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation (KSCDC), which has 30 factories Kannur, Thrissur, Alappuzha, Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam, has also come forward to support the labourers. “Some isolated people are trying to create problems in the public sector factories which are operating smooth and offering all benefits. The KSCDC is not against the wage hike,” said S Jayamohan, chairman. Meanwhile, a five-member expert committee formed by the State government to prepare a revival plan for the sector will submit its report shortly. The report is expected to come up with practical solutions for the comprehensive development of cashew sector and address various issues including operational losses.
