CM Revanth Furious over Strike, Federation Records to Be Submitted

 Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is reportedly upset over the 19-day strike announced by the Telugu Film Industry Employees Federation, which has already forced Bollywood filmmaker Ramanand Sagar’s production Ramayana to shift out of Hyderabad. The shutdown has also disrupted several Tamil, Kannada, and Bengali film projects.

“CM garu wants to develop Hyderabad as the film capital of India. He doesn’t want this strike to tarnish the image of the city and has urged an early resolution to the stalemate,” said producer Ramu. He added that police have begun enquiring about workers who are enforcing the strike and even questioned a few workers on Wednesday night. He also admitted that talks between producers and federation workers are going on in the Labour Commissioner's office and are expecting a joint press conference today or tomorrow.

The Additional Labour Commissioner has now demanded records of all 24 unions under the federation and instructed that they be submitted audit reports and other records to the Labour Commissioner’s office within three days, he adds

According to government sources, revising the wages of workers currently earning ₹1,000–₹2,000 per day is considered reasonable, while deferring hikes for those drawing above ₹3,000 is seen as logical and justified. However, the government is upset with the “adamant” strike, which has stalled nearly 30 film shoots and dented Hyderabad’s image as a vibrant hub for cinema.

The issue has also turned against the federation over its alleged exorbitant membership fees. “A production boy has to pay ₹3 lakh for membership, while dancers, fighters, art directors, and even drivers are charged between ₹5–7 lakh each. The federation has tons of funds,” claimed producer Krishna. He added that the federation’s claim of producers owing ₹13 crore in dues is proof of the high wages workers already earn.

“A civil worker gets paid once a week, but film workers take home wages daily,” Krishna pointed out.

Another top producer urged the Telugu Film Chamber to rein in the federation’s demands, calling them “unfortunate.” Sharing an example, producer Ramu said: “One producer served omelets for breakfast, but federation members objected. Similarly, if a producer owns five cars, they insist that only one be used, while the remaining four must be hired from federation members.”

He added that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has already warned cine workers against monopolistic practices and stressed that producers must be free to hire people of their choice. “If this doesn’t change, the CCI will step in as producers readied a complaint,” Ramu concluded.