Articles'TV Producer & Worker's Strike Called Off'

The impasse between the producers and the workers has finally come to an end. After about ten days of black-out the two concerned parties have come to a mutual settlement. It is learnt that the shooting of serials will commence tonight.

Rajesh Chaddha, one of the five sub-committee members under the core committee of all the producer's bodies, says, "The strike has come to an end and the concerned issues have been worked upon. We will come to know of the developments in an hour's time. And if all goes well then the shooting would start tonight."

Details of the agreed terms and conditions to follow.

After six hours of deliberation, involving all four producers' bodies and the Federation of Western India Cine Employees, the two parties announced that they had resolved their differences on workers' wages.

According to Mukesh Bhatt and FWICE President, Dharmesh Tiwari, the interests of the lower most section of the trade have been kept in mind. "Workers will move from a per day payment to a monthly wage," said Bhatt. "Their work timings will be between 9 am and 10 pm, beyond that they will be paid on a pro-rata basis," added Tiwari.

"We are happy about the settlement," said Tiwari. Both the parties acknowledged the contribution of Fox Studios India head Deepak Segal and Hats Off Productions' JD Majethia in reaching a resolution.

While the shoot commences from tonight, it will be couple of more days before the channels beam fresh programming.

Nevertheless, all couch potatoes can now heave a huge sigh of relief. They can tune into their favourite soaps soon and it is bye-bye to repeat telecasts.