Chennai, August 9: AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa has thrown her weight behind the TASMAC workers who have drawn up a strike plan for August 11 and said it was imperative for the government to call them for talks to resolve the issue now.
In a statement here today, Jayalalithaa sympathised with the nearly 30,000 TASMAC workers who bring in about 25 per cent of the state’s revenue through liquor sales.
The workers, who have been slogging for seven years now, do not have confirmed jobs. They have also been demanding that they be given salary on a par with government employees, that they have an 8-hour work day, that they get a weekly off and are allowed to enjoy national and religious holidays as holidays.
While the demands of the TASMAC workers make a long list, the Tamil Nadu government is not interested in calling them for talks, said Jayalalithaa.
She chided the government by saying that instead of looking into their grievances and rederessing them, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi was talking of enforcing prohibition in the state.
She assured support for the TASMAC employees and pointed out that the “day their demands would be met was not far away”.
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