Bengal cinema hall workers on strike...again!

Rifat Jawaid in Calcutta

Though the recent strike by cinema hall workers in West Bengal has been called off, the rift between the cinema hall employees and Eastern India Motion Picture Association has widened.

What set the alarm bells ringing in the EIMPA camp once again is the renewed threat of an indefinite strike by workers beginning February 9.

The three-day strike by the Bengal Motion Pictures Employees Union has had crippling effects on the releases of some big budget Hindi films like Zubeidaa, Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi and Bengali films like Shesh Bichar and Mala Badal.

Yet, the EIMPA bigwigs remain unruffled with the threats of an indefinite strike.

They say that the lockouts at the cinema halls would only help the cinema hall owners since the movie business was no longer a profitable venture for them.

Terming the strike as illegal, EIMPA Vice President JK Agrawal says the strike was politically motivated, enjoying the patronage of the ruling Left Front affiliated trade union CITU. He feels that the workers had no right to grumble on their pay scale since their wages were at par with the government workers.

"First let me tell you that the three-day strike was illegal since we were not informed 15 days in advance as per the agreement. As for the complaints of poor wages, even a sweeper here gets Rs 2500 excluding those regular additional benefits in compliance with the labour law.

"In spite of that, the workers' union is attempting to hold us on ransom with their illegitimate demand of a 20 percent hike in their wages. One should understand our plight as we have been bearing the brunt of the loss incurring industry in Bengal for years.

Of the 200 Hindi and Bengali films that are released every year, hardly two or three succeed in doing good business. In such scenario, how can one expect us to give in to the employees' demands of a regular hike in their salaries," asks Agarwal.

BMPEU, however, is quick to refute Agarwal's claims that cinema hall employees in Bengal are adequately paid. According to the union's secretary Dilip Ghosh, the highest salary drawn by any of their workers has never exceeded Rs 3000.

Charging the EIMPA with violating the agreement on wages, Ghosh says that the workers' wages were replete with disparity across the state.

"For example, while the maximum salary drawn by any cinema hall employee in Calcutta stood below Rs 3000, the ceiling in rural areas was not even less than Rs 2000.

"What has aggrieved us most is the EIMPA's backtracking from its promises of revising the pay scale for the workers in early 1999. We were forced to go on strike when the higher-ups in the EIMPA continued to give a pathetic response to our demands.

"It's not that they are not making money out of this business. The difference with the cinema hall owners here and elsewhere in India is that while latter takes care of its employees, the former invests their earnings in other businesses outside Bengal.

"Barring a few halls, the rest of them lack even the basic facilities. They are neither interested in providing improved facilities for the audience, nor are they looking after the 15,000 workers who are involved in generating money for them," Ghosh said.

A senior spokesperson in the state government's cultural affairs ministry told rediff.com that in the past five years, the government had brought down the amusement tax to 20 percent and 30 percent in Bengali and Hindi movies respectively.

Besides, the state government also met about 80 percent of the EIMPA's demands. There is also an exemption of tax on the advertisements shown in the halls during the shows.

"The government also announced other benefits soon after the filmmaking got an industry status. Electricity tariffs were halved while there were facilities for easy bank loans for the producers," the spokesperson added.

Film producers rue that the rampant piracy by cable TV operators and mushrooming of illegal video parlours in rural areas have severely threatened their business. According to an estimate, there are over 20,000 video parlours across Bengal, of which only 1000 operate with a valid license.

The Bengali producers have to also fight the menace of illegal imports of substandard movies from Bangladesh.

Panchanand Das, a film critic, says, "In the last few years, as many as 74 big cinema halls had to be closed down in Calcutta and in some suburbs due to some problem or the other.

"The biggest challenge that the cinema hall owners have been facing is the militant trade unionism. Thanks to this, many of the known cinema halls including Janta, Roopbani and Lotus have had to wind up their business. Roopbani was inaugurated and christened by Rabindranath Tagore in 1927.

"The government, despite its tall claims, has done very little to check the growth of illegal video halls in villages and piracy by the cable TV operators in Calcutta. What amuses me is the fact that the government is losing a huge money by turning a blind eye to such illegal practices.

"I am told that the state government's loss in terms of amusement tax in 2000 alone has been over Rs 400 million."

The EIMPA is now in a defiant mood and says that it is ready for any eventualities.

Agarwal says his organisation would never agree for any negotiations with the BMPEU. His disenchantment stems from the fact that the workers' union refused the EIMPA's repeated requests to call off the strike when they met with the state labour commissioner, Anil Agarwal, in a tripartite meeting earlier this month.

What comes as a ray of hope amidst an absolutely hopeless scenario for the EIMPA is that the new Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya has reportedly agreed to intervene in the ongoing impasse.

Besides, the CM's commitments to improve work culture in the state is also something that would soothe the visibly helpless cinema hall owners.

But one hopes that both the EIMPA and the state government takes care of the interests of thousands of indigent and penury stricken workers.