Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; January 21, 2015)

Many a shoot schedule went for a toss with nearly 500 vanity van drivers and cleaners having gone on an indefinite strike yesterday, demanding hike in wages. The ceasework was launched by the Shiv Sena-promoted film workers’ union, Chitrapat Sena.

Akshay Bardapurkar, general secretary of the Sena, says, “We had a meeting with the all the producer associations in November last year and they had asked for a month’s time to look into our demand. But now that they not replied to notices repeatedly sent by us, we have decided to cease work.”

Per shift, a vanity van driver gets Rs 700 while a cleaner gets Rs 300 and they are now demanding that the wage be revised to Rs 1000 and Rs 500, respectively. They are also insisting on a one-and-a-half shift payment if they have to travel outside city limits. The members have also complained that they don’t have enough work and a wage hike was last effected in 2011.

Kishan Deshmukh, a member of the Sena, says, “The last time, our wage was increased by just Rs 100. It is tough to survive on such meagre salaries.”