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Bollywood Strike
The term coined by the unions for the strike that briefly paralysed Bollywood from 1st October 2008 was ‘a non-cooperation movement,’ conjuring images of Gandhi’s campaign against the British, and was aimed at improving conditions for all workers in the industry ranging from extras to camera operators.
In contrast to the more sophisticated demands made by the Indian industry’s Hollywood counterparts in the same year, Bollywood workers were fighting for more basic rights: to be paid on time, for the working day to be capped at 12 hours and for improved safety conditions. Dinesh Chaturvedi, the general secretary of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees, said producers would not pay the workers, who earned between 500 rupees for TV (£6.00) and approximately £7.00 a day on films, until 90 days after a shoot, and that anyone who complained would be replaced by non-union workers.
"All shoots are off,’ Chaturvedi said. ‘The producers have not stuck to the terms of the agreement they signed with us one-and-a-half years back. Payments have been delayed by three months, six months, a year. And producers are hiring non-members to save costs. We are not happy to call for this non-cooperation, but we are helpless.’
Chaturvedi went on to say that the result was the culmination of a couple of months of unsuccessful protests, and that the non-cooperation movement would continue until an agreement was reached. The protest was the first such action taken by the Federation in its fifty years of existence.
Top stars, such as Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan were reported to have voiced their support for the strike, which came at a traditionally busy period for the industry as films were nearing completion for the Hindu holiday of Diwali at the end of October. Around 40 shoots were reported to have been affected, many of them for TV shows, and many studios were deserted.
Ratan Jain, the president of the Association of Motion Picture and TV Programme Directors said, ‘The walkout was not in the interests of the industry as a whole. Many shoots have come to a halt, and ultimately, it will lead to losses for everyone. We can always sit down and talk to find a solution,’ confirming that he would call for a meeting with producers that day, Jain continued, ‘We are entering the festive season, and workers cannot afford to go on without earnings at this time.’
Sushma Shiromanee of the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Assn. took a more bullish approach, declaring that, ‘There is no shooting, but there is no panic here. We can wait for six months if necessary.’ [ADD]
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