The Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI) on Thursday called off its indefinite strike over demands for a higher wage rise. The president of the Federation, RK Selvamani, while withdrawing the protest, said the employees will return to work on Friday. The latest development comes a day after the executive members of FEFSI met the senior actors of the industry on the matter. They had also sought the government's intervention after the member of Producers’ Council showed no interest in talks to resolve the issue. "We had approached the Tamil Nadu Labour Commissioner with a request to call the TFPC members for talks. After notices were sent, TFPC has agreed to talks on August 4. The talks will have representatives on behalf of the employer (TFPC), employee (FEFSI) and a government official," Angamuthu Shanmugam, General Secretary, FEFS, told Indianexpess.com. "We had also met senior artistes Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan on the issue. Both of them had requested to resolve problems through talks. Moreover few small producers, who were ready to pay the existing allowances, had also requested us to call off the strike as production was getting hampered. Thus, we decided to call off the strike," he added. The executive members of Tamil Nadu Film Producers' Council remained unfazed by the FEFSI strike as they said they were in the process of making alternative arrangements for the filmmakers to continue with the outdoor shooting. However, the shooting of as many as 40 films, including Rajinikanth's Kaala, was stopped due to the protest. Read : Tamil Film Producer Council vs FEFSI: What is happening and why is it important? "The two major points of discussion would be the 'general conditions' (the time period of work, the number of people to be employed, overtime wages etc.) and that TFPC should agree to go back to working only with FEFSI members," Angamuthu said. The TFPC is also unwilling to relent on its stance. "FEFSI is just playing around. They have just agreed to work for people who are ready to pay the old rates. Our stand is very simple. It is an issue of basic rights. An employer should have the right to employ who he wishes to, provided the employee agrees to his terms. How can an employee compel the employer? That's what we are fighting for," said S R Prabhu, TFPC Treasurer.
