Cement trader halts business; CITU protest by installing shed

PALAKKAD: A cement trader in Shoranur, Palakkad, has temporarily halted operations due to a strike organised by the CITU following the installation of a loading and unloading machine. Jayaprakash, the owner of Prakash Steels and a resident of Kulappully, explained to the media that he stopped trading because he could not load cement sacks.

The strike began with CITU constructing a shed in front of Jayaprakash's shop. According to him, the machine requires only two operators to function efficiently. However, CITU argues that more workers are needed to load and unload the sacks, and denying this is denying employment opportunities. To support their stance, CITU released footage showing additional workers are needed to operate the machine. Jayaprakash countered this by stating that the visuals were from a trial run and shared his own video showing two operators managing the machine effectively.

The loading and unloading machine was installed three months ago at Jayaprakash's establishment. Efforts to resolve the labour dispute through discussions led by the labour officer last Monday failed to reach a consensus.