Indian TV staff strike again, hours after

Indian TV staff strike again, hours after calling off stoppage

2 days ago

MUMBAI (AFP) — Workers in India's television industry have gone on strike again, just a day after unions brokered a deal with producers to end a two-week stoppage that deprived viewers of their favourite soap operas.

The strike was called off late Wednesday after serial producers agreed to demands from members of the Federation of Western Indian Cine Employees (FWICE) to increase pay and improve working conditions.

But some members of the umbrella body of 20 organisations refused to accept the deal and voted to extend the strike on Thursday, saying union leaders had not consulted them.

The producers had agreed to give set assistants a 35 percent pay rise, pay a monthly rather than a daily wage, as well as introduce a contract system and guarantees that no worker would be laid off without a month's notice.

But some FWICE-affiliated unions, including those representing boom operators and make-up artists, said it was still a raw deal and refused to report for work, demanding more money.

"We are unhappy with the deal and so have decided to strike," the president of the Sound Department union, B.N. Tiwari, was quoted as saying by the Times of India newspaper.

Bhatt said they were not prepared to renegotiate and accused the unions of "blackmailing the producers".

"We won't budge," he said.

The fresh strike raises the prospect of further disruption in shooting of some Bollywood movies and Hindi-language entertainment channels, including the daily soap operas that have a dedicated following.