Mangaluru: Beedi workers lay siege to depot demanding pending minimum wages and revised allowances

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Oct 10, 2025: Beedi workers staged a protest and laid siege to the Telephone Beedi Depot at Kaikamba, demanding payment of pending minimum wages from 2018 to 2024 and the revised leaf allowance for 2024.

The protest was organized under the banner of the Joint Action Committee of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi District Beedi Workers’ Unions, with participation from Kuppepadavu Area Beedi Workers’ Union, Gurupura Beedi Labour Union, Surathkal Beedi Labour Union, and Vamanjoor Area Beedi Workers’ Union.

The demonstration began at 10 a.m. and continued for nearly three hours. Over 500 women beedi workers took part in the protest, braving the scorching heat.

According to the unions, in 2018, the government, based on tripartite discussions, had issued an order increasing the minimum wage by ₹40. However, the employers failed to implement it, depriving workers of their rightful dues. Later, in 2024, Labour Minister Santosh Lad reportedly revised the order in favor of the employers, reducing the previously fixed minimum wage. Even this revised order was not implemented, and employers continued to withhold pending wages.

In response, beedi workers’ unions have intensified their agitation, organizing a series of protests and depot blockades across the district. On Thursday, workers from Kaikamba, Gurupura, Vamanjoor, and Kuppepadavu took part in the demonstration.

Union leaders including Vasantha Achari, B. Shekhar, Muneer Katipalla, Balakrishna Shetty, Sadashiva Das, and Seetharam Berinje addressed the gathering. The protest was led by local union leaders Vasanthi Kuppepadavu, Nonayya Gowda, Yashoda Malali, Bhavani Vamanjoor, Honnayya Amin, Kusuma Kuppepadavu, Warija Kuppepadavu, and Ashok Vamanjoor.

Nonayya Gowda welcomed the gathering, and Vasanthi Kuppepadavu proposed the vote of thanks.