14,000 Telugu film workers to strike from today

14,000 Telugu film workers to strike from today

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Ajay Shastri (Editor & Publisher) 

BOLLYWOOD CINE REPORTER

Email: editorbcr@gmail.com

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BCR NEWS (HYDERABAD) The Telugu film industry will come to a grinding halt from Thursday as 14,000 film workers, locked in a tussle with the film chamber, will go on strike. 

The workers are peeved with a decision of the AP Film Chamber of Commerce that producers can hire the services of anyone to work in their films, even if they are not members of the AP Film Industry Employees Federation which comprises of unions of 24 crafts. 

"This is unacceptable. Producers should employ only workers belonging to the federation. There is no compromise on this," K Rajeshwara Reddy, general secretary of the federation told The Times of India. 

In fact, Wednesday was supposed to bring cheer to the workers as the film chamber agreed to their demands and hiked the wages of the various craft workers by 32 per cent. Discussions were on for the last three months on the issue but producers had tried to stall this. A month ago, they went on a lightning strike but called it off after two days as they got an assurance that the film chamber would hold discussions on their demands for a wage hike. The hike was due for revision last year itself but had been postponed. The wages are hiked every three years. 

Finally, on Wednesday, the AP Film Chamber of Commerce made an announcement about the increase in hike in wages. However, what has enraged the workers is that two clauses have been inserted that are unacceptable to them. 

Apart from giving the producers the discretion to employ any person (even if he or she is not a member of the federation) for a film, the film chamber also said the new increased wages would not be applicable to low-budget films. "How does it matter whether we are working for a low-budget film or a high-budget film? They extract the same amount of work. Why should there be a difference in the wages?" questioned Rajeshwara Reddy. 

If this in itself is a problem, the film chamber has also said it reserves the right to define what a low-budget film is. 

Unhappy with the film chamber for these reasons, the federation served a strike notice to the AP Film Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday. The strike will affect several films which are on the floors, including the mega-budget film 'Bahubali', it is learnt. It is said that some fight sequences are being shot for this SS Rajamouli film now. Another big-starrer 'Gopala Gopala' starring Venkatesh and Pawan Kalyan will also be hit. 

Film staff have said shootings at all film studios, including Ramoji Film City, will be affected. Lest producers go to other states for shooting, the AP Film Industry Employees Federation has also alerted its national body - the All India Film Employees Confederation (AIFEC) that Telugu producers should not be allowed to shoot anywhere else in the country during the strike period in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states.