Strike continues: TV workers, producers on collision course

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent | Mumbai
Daily soap viewers, who were eagerly waiting for new episodes to be aired on Monday will have to wait for some more time and continue watching re-runs.

A day after television producers and the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the latter backed down because few workers were not happy with the terms and conditions of the MoU.

It maybe noted that the MoU was signed by the Core Committee of the producers' association (comprising the Producers' Guild, the Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association and the Association of Motion Picture and Television Programme Producers of India) and the FWICE members on November 19. The workers have been on strike since November 7.

The makeup artistes and audio technicians refused to return to work, complaining that the revised rates offered to them were not at all satisfactory. Producers, who were looking forward to start work and make up for the losses because of the cancelled schedules, said they had had enough.

The MoU signed between the producers and FWICE on Wednesday offered a make-up man with two assistants a salary of Rs 80,000 a month. The sound department, too, struck work, crippling the entire television industry. The new MoU stipulated that a sound recordist would get a salary of Rs 40,000 a month, though the community expected a salary of Rs 55,000.