CHENNAI: As many as 450 Tasmac liquor shop employees, who staged demonstrations against the State government pressing for a slew of demands, have been transferred to various locations in Chennai and other parts of the State.
The Senior Regional Managers of Tasmac have issued orders transferring the employees who went on a flash strike on Tuesday. The workers allegedly closed the Tasmac outlets for nearly two hours as a mark of the protest, due to which the revenue of shops fell by 10 to 15 percent.
D Dhanasekaran, general secretary of the AITUC-affiliated Tamil Nadu TASMAC Employees Union said the employees are risking their lives working during the Covid pandemic only to meet their family demands. "We only wanted the health coverage for Tasmac employees on par with the health workers."
Citing the lack of public transportation during the lockdown, the association has demanded to prepone the closing times of liquor shops to enable the employees to reach home before 10 pm. "Every employee gets exposed to over 100 to 150 persons every day," said Dhanasekaran.
The Tasmac shops, which had remained closed since March 24, were reopened on August 18 in Chennai. The liquor brands are overpriced by Rs 15 to 20 for every 180 ml of bottle.