Owners of around 1,300 small-scale power loom job working units at Pallagoundenpalayam and nearby areas, which were involved only in the production of towels for textile units, commenced an indefinite strike on Thursday.
They resorted to shutdown after a talk mediated by Collector and senior officials of various departments with the textile unit owners to fix revision of job work charges failed on Thursday evening.
V. K. Gopalakrishnan, one of the senior representatives of the small-scale power loom job working units who participated in the talks, told The Hindu that the previous two-and-a-half year agreement signed between the power loom job working units and the textile units expired on November 30, 2015.
However, the job work charges did not get revised till now, he said.
“We are seeking for a 25 per cent increase in the charges for the first year and 10 per cent each for the subsequent two years”, he added.
The reasons cited by the job working unit owners for an upward revision included escalation in costs of spare parts and operation.