CHENNAI: The State government on Thursday announced pay hike to the tune of Rs 12.34 crore for the 6,061 employees of the 16 cooperative sugar mills and two public sector sugar mills. The pay hike ranges from Rs 1,930 to Rs 2,397 for the employees of various grades. Besides, Rs 4.63 crore is to be paid as ‘goodwill amount’ to them, immediately.
As per the announcement, made by former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in the State Assembly on May 9, 2012, 25 per cent of the basic pay of the employees is to scheduled to be paid as special pay. “18 sugar mills are facing several problems such as increase in the cost of productivity, downfall in price of sugar and sugarcane intake. But, the government has decided to hike the pay for the employees, considering their welfare. The Minister for Industries held talks with trade unions of these mills before hiking the pay”, an official release said.
The private sugar mills, which are members of the South Indian Sugar Mills Association (SISMA) arrived at a wage revision deal on Oct 8, 2014 after holding talks with the trade unions and the wage revision will come into force with retrospective effect from Oct 1, 2014, the release added. For those who are in service on October 1, 2014 and reside in the quarters provided by the sugar mills, Rs 5,000 would be paid as ‘goodwill amount’ (one time settlement). For those who reside outside, Rs 10,000 would be paid. Other allowances would be paid as per the deal signed by SISMA.