No new episodes as TV workers' strike continues

STRIKE CONTIUNES: The technical workers are not happy with the agreement signed on Wednesday.

 

Mumbai: Television audiences will have to make do with re-runs of old soaps for some more time as technical workers unhappy with a deal signed on Wednesday to address their demand for higher wages, decided on Friday to scrap the agreement. No shooting was held for fresh episodes on Friday as workers did not turn up.

Members of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), the workers' apex body, conveyed their unhappiness over the November 19 agreement when they met among themselves Friday evening.

The federation office-bearers then sat for an emergency meeting to discuss the fallout of the decision taken by their unhappy affiliates.

The federation decided to scrap the agreement and revert to the one it had signed with the core committee of television programme producers in October, though producers had earlier backtracked from it leading to an impasse in the industry.

The FWICE is, however, yet to convey its decision taken at Friday's meeting to the producers' committee, but is hopeful that the producers would finally be amenable to it.

"I am sure producers who are after all our colleagues in the industry would understand our constraints when we sit with them to discuss the new development that have surfaced," federation general secretary, Dinesh Chaturvedi, told IANS after the meeting.

He, however, refused to elaborate.

But it is clear that by deciding to scrap the November 19 agreement, the federation has given in to the demands of the sound recordists, dressmen and make-up artists - the three categories of professions who in particular were unhappy with the new rates of monthly salary fixed for them and were demanding a further hike.

In view of the stand producers had taken earlier, it can be expected that the impasse in the television industry will continue for long. Until it is resolved, the indirect loser will be the viewers.

Earlier Friday, some associations of technicians failed to report for work though producers said that they would resume shooting for their on-going serials.

On Wednesday, the FWICE and the core committee of the television programme producers had signed an agreement over wages and workers were to resume shooting from Thursday.

But soon after the agreement was signed, some associations of technicians complained to FWICE that they were unhappy with the new wages fixed for them.

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