KANNIYAKUMARI: Unions of workers of the Arasu Rubber Corporation have urged the management and the state government to initiate talks regarding wage hike and job regularisation. In this regard, members of several workers' unions staged a one-day demonstration in front of the Manalodai division of the rubber corporation on Thursday.
CITU Estate Workers district general secretary M Valsakumar told TNIE that the corporation employs nearly 500 permanent workers and more than 400 casual labourers -- wage agreement for all ended in November 2025.
He said that the unions, since last December, have been urging the management to initiate talks for the wage agreement for the next three years, but the corporation has not commenced the talks till now.
Every union has its own demand regarding the increase in the amount of daily wage, he said the CITU Estate Workers have demanded the wage be hiked from Rs 650 (including basic and variable DA) to Rs 1,200 a day. Besides, the CITU also demanded that the casual workers be converted to permanent employees, he added.
Annai Sonia Rahul General Workers Union district general secretary N Kumaran said the union has demanded a wage increase of Rs 200 a day, besides job regularisation. Citing the one-day demonstration, he said the protest would continue at the other three divisions -- Keeriparai, Chittar, and Kodayar.
Arasu Rubber Corporation Workers LPF Union organising secretary V Elango told TNIE that the union had submitted representations to ministers R S Raja Kannappan and T Mano Thangaraj, the latter from Kanniyakumari district, to initiate talks related to wage hike before the Assembly elections. We also demanded that the casual labourers be converted into permanent workers, he added.
Sources from the rubber corporation claimed that the management had yet to receive the list of recognised unions for holding the talks related to the new wage agreement.
The Arasu Rubber Corporation, functioning under the Tamil Nadu Department of Environment and Forest, has plantations spanning nearly 3,500 hectares in the district, with its factory operating at Keeriparai.
