TV producers may offer better wages to workers

MUMBAI: Television producers are likely to issue a fresh set of proposals to the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) on the vexed wage issue that has resulted in a stand-off between the two sides. Producers decided to take the first step in this direction on Thursday evening, industry insiders told TOI.

The members of the core committee of the television producers��� organisation will be meeting individual producers to arrive at a final decision on the new proposal that is likely to be issued to workers.

���The proposal is likely to be in favour of the workers as producers do understand the workers��� problem,������ an industry insider said. ���With no shooting for almost 20 days, the daily wage workers have started feeling the heat,������ he added. But the workers��� agency was in a belligerent mood. Federation of Western India Cine Employeespresident Dharmesh Tiwari said: ���Producers have lost the trust of workers. They went back on the wage hike they agreed to give to workers after an MoU was signed on 3 October. We are not willing to compromise.������

But Tiwari agreed that the daily wage worker had started to suffer. ���Everyone, worker or producer or channel, is losing in this fight. Let���s see where it ends,������ he said.

The hardened attitudes, industry insiders said, indicated that no early solution might be in sight and audiences might have to go on watching reruns till the end of the month. ���Whatever is reasonable will be given to workers, especially the daily wage earners, but those with higher pay scales may not be able to get the hike they have demanded,������ one of them said.