Another brick in union wall: 'Harassed' Kerala owner to shut kiln

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Trade unionism has dropped a brick on Left-governed Kerala's claim to ease of doing business, with a 57-year-old woman kiln owner in Parassala on the brink of winding up her venture after even a high court order failed to protect her from harassment at the hands of headload workers.

Pushpakumari and her husband Thankappan A, a retired state transport corporation employee, have been running the kiln at Chenkal - "brick" in Malayalam - for around six years. She alleges that a group of headload workers owing allegiance to CPM-affiliated CITU and Congress-backed INTUC have been obstructing the business in a bid to extract what she says are unreasonable wages.

The couple, hailing from Pazhayakada near Thirupuram, recently moved Kerala high court against the unionised workers and obtained an order barring them from disrupting operations at the kiln. The court also directed police to provide protection to the owners and their business.

Pushpakumari said little had changed despite the court's intervention, forcing her to contemplate giving up on her kiln. The defiant workers allegedly tore a copy of the court order in front of police. Last Tuesday, they allegedly didn't allow Pushpakumari's regular staff to work.

"Not all headload workers create such problems; it is just a group of men with several criminal cases against them. Our employees load 1,000 bricks for Rs 480, receiving an extra Rs 30 as a bonus. The headload workers demand Rs 800 and more," she said.

Pushpakumari said several orders were cancelled due to delay in delivery caused by the unionised workers.

"The court ruled in our favour, but the workers are politically influential, and even police advised us to compromise for the sake of the business. Some of the more aggressive workers threatened to kill us." Police said the dispute would be resolved soon. "We have warned the trade union workers not to create any problem," an officer said.

Kerala organised a global investor summit recently, where chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan promised to remove all obstacles for industrialists and arrange all facilities required for a start-up ecosystem to thrive. Leader of the opposition V D Satheesan, too, extended support in the interest of the state's economic growth.

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