KOCHI: The leaders of various trade unions have extended their support to the efforts to make Ernakulam a 'nokkukooli'-free district. The government had already asked the District Collector to make sure Nokkukooli, or the charge extracted by head-load workers if they are not given unloading work, is not collected.Collector K Mohammed Y Safirulla convened a meeting on Wednesday, in the presence of District Labour Officer Mohammed Ziyad, of the trade union leaders to inform them about the instructions given by the Chief Minister in this regard.
"There will be strong regulations in the district on the collection of nokkukooli," said Safirulla."Also, regulations will be imposed on the practice of trade unions supplying workers to various fields. However, we have assured the leaders there will be no situation where the workers are left jobless. At a time when various new ventures are about to be launched in the district, the government doesn't want to do anything against the workers. We knew the cooperation of the workforce is necessary for carrying out various projects. Our only aim is to prevent wrong practices like Nokkukooli and labour supply." The Collector also said a meeting will be convened soon by the Chief Minister to discuss the frequent strikes that affect the LPG Plants. "The meeting will be attended by representatives of LPG distributors and the Lorry Owners Association," he said.
Meanwhile, the trade union leaders shared their apprehension over the possibility of workers losing jobs because of the increasing mechanisation in various fields. The leaders said they are also against the practice of collecting nokkukooli, which is, in other words, collecting money without doing any work.
"However, while loading and unloading materials from modernised tipper lorries where the entire process is done with the help of machines, middlemen collect unloading charges too. This should be prevented. Workers who have made agreements with particular contractors should not lose the work. The existing contracts should be retained," the union leaders said.The representatives of various trade unions, including CITU, INTUC, AITUC, NLC and BMS, attended the meeting.