The Hindu Bureau
COIMBATORE About 2,000 workers of seven National Textile Corporation (NTC) mills in Tamil Nadu have not received the monthly salary for the last eight months, say trade union leaders in Coimbatore.
M. Arumugam, former Valparai MLA and AITUC leader, said the mills – five in Coimbatore and two in the southern districts – were closed in March 2020 when the COVID pandemic started. The workers received full salary from March 2020 to June 2023 following the demands placed by the unions. They were then paid 50 % salary till February. They have not received salary for the last eight months.
“We are taking several measures – protests, submitting appeals to the officials and ministers and legal action. The workers are without job for the last five years and without any salary for the last eight months. Many of them have switched over to new jobs. But, they are frustrated. The officials are saying there is no money. We have given several suggestions to reopen the mills,” he said.
The unions raised a dispute with the Regional Labour Commissioner for payment of full wages and he has referred it to the industrial tribunal. The union also filed a case in the Madras High Court two years ago demanding reopening of the mills, he said.
According to HMS leader T.S. Rajamani, the workers received 12.5 % of their last received wages as an amount for Deepavali. It is said that some of the workers in Maharashtra received three year bonus based on the claims that they submitted, he said.
Published – October 23, 2025 08:05 pm IST