VELLORE: Labourers toiling in the tanneries and leather goods manufacturing units in Vellore region are staring at a bleak future as the lockdown has completely crippled the sector.
Around 1.5 lakh workers have been engaged in leather based industries and other micro, small and medium industries in Vellore, Tirupathur and Ranipet districts.
Since almost all the units shut shop from the day the lockdown came into force, several workers were not paid the full month’s salary for March. They are doubtful of receiving the wages for the layoff period in April.
“I have been working in a shoe manufacturing company in Ambur. I was paid just about Rs 2000 for March. My employer said he was running out of money as his clients did not clear the bills,” says M Ilangovan, a labourer.
“I have desperately been trying to contact my boss but he is not taking the phone. I don’t know whether I will get at least a few hundred rupees for April,” rues the 38-year-old.
Trade union leaders fear the worst if the lockdown is not relaxed and employers don't pay the labourers any doles. According to SR Devadass, district general secretary of AITUC, “Both the entrepreneurs and the labourers are hit alike by the lockdown. Employers have lost precious orders from their customers while labourers have lost their jobs. But the workers must be paid the wages for the layoff period.”
Women labourers, who constitute about 90 per cent of the workforce in leather based industries, are in a precarious situation as they may lose their livelihood and struggle to run the family.
“If they (employers) give us at least half a month’s salary, we can manage to meet the routine expenses, otherwise it is going to be tough to get even food,” laments Akila, a mother of four children.
The situation could worsen if the lockdown continues. “If the lockdown is extended, the operations of the factories cannot be resumed. Even if they are partially resumed, a large number of workers will not get employment,” notes N Sundar, district secretary of North Arcot District Tannery Workers Union.
With agricultural activities taking a heavy beating due to pollution of the Palar river, which has become bone dry now, leather based industries are the only major sector that offers employment to thousands of poor workers in Vellore region. If the sector can’t resume operations in full swing, it will deprive many of the labourers of their livelihoods.