Strike cripples Tollywood: Workers demand fair pay, shootings halted
What's the story
The Telugu Film Industry Employees Federation has called for a strike from Monday, August 4. The decision comes after failed negotiations with producers over wage revisions, threatening to halt production activities in Tollywood. The federation is demanding a 30% increase in daily wages, citing stagnant pay scales for the past three years as a major concern affecting over 10,000 daily wage workers.
Production impact
Impact on film and web series shoots
The strike is likely to affect high-budget, mid-budget films, as well as smaller productions. A federation representative confirmed that their workers will not report for duty from Monday, adding that the decision was made after exhaustive efforts to resolve the issue through dialogue. The strike decision was formalized during a meeting of the federation's executive committee on Sunday. The federation has announced that shoots will resume if producers provide written assurance agreeing to the revised pay structure.
Conditions for resumption
Producers offer 5% wage hike
Talks between the Telugu Film Producers Council, the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce, and the federation have been ongoing for several months. Producers earlier proposed a 5% wage increase, which was rejected by the federation. "Producers spend crores on top technicians but hesitate when it comes to marginal hikes for lower-tier workers," said Rajeswar Reddy, former General Secretary of the federation. Per Reddy, daily-wage workers currently earn ₹1,400 per day.
Producer's perspective
Producer urges a middle ground
Producer C Kalyan, while opposing the strike, acknowledged its potential impact. He described the strike as a "pressure tactic" and added, "A month-long production halt could hurt the very daily wage workers they're trying to support." "The industry is suffering massive losses, and theatrical revenues have dropped drastically," he said. The outcome of the strike remains uncertain, but it could lead to prolonged disruption in the Telugu film industry unless a resolution is reached soon.