Patchwork Settlement for Textile Workers

The industry-wide tripartite settlement for workers in cotton textile industry arrived on March 14 is little more than a patchwork settlement, thanks to the left front government's timely intervention. The 55,000 workmen in about 36 mills encountered the same adversaries whom their counterparts in jute and engineering industries have encountered ever since the last tripartite agreement which ended on December 31, 1976. The Bengal Mill Owners' Association, the sole representative of textile interests in private sector in the state, took full advantage of Emergency to impose an enormous workload which has now been legalised through the present settlement.