Telugu Film Workers Reject Selective Wage Hike Plan

“Our talks have failed, and we reject their new proposal for a gradual wage hike,” said Federation president Anil Vallabhaneni. “During discussions, producers initially assured us they would look into our wage hike demand, but later they changed their stand and offered hikes to only 13 unions out of 24. This is clearly meant to break our unity, and our members find it totally unacceptable.”

Anil said the federation was willing to consider reducing its original 30% wage hike demand, but the producers’ “selective” approach was neither fair nor logical. “We were open to lowering our percentage demand, but they chose to raise wages for some unions while leaving out others. This is unacceptable,” he said, adding that 13 unions would still be working under a daily wage system.

According to him, the producers proposed hikes only for workers earning ₹1,500 per day, excluding those at the ₹2,500 level. “They never mentioned a gradual hike during our meeting, but later announced different slabs we were not aware of. Our demand remains the same — treat all 10,000 daily wage workers equally, instead of creating divisions for their convenience.”

He also claimed that producers were unwilling to discuss wages for dancers, fighters, and camera technicians who earn above ₹2,000 per day. “We told them such wages could be decided mutually in agreements, but they refused to discuss them,” he noted.

With the Telugu film industry’s shutdown set to continue, Anil stressed that the federation does not want to halt work. “We have no intention to shut down the industry. We only sought a 30% hike and were even ready to negotiate for less, but the producers’ tactics are aimed at breaking our unity. We are fighting for the livelihood of 10,000 workers, and it is with a heavy heart that we are not attending work,” he concluded.

Earlier, the Producers’ Guild said they had held discussions with the Telugu Film Employees Federation and proposed a “gradual hike formula.” Under this plan, workers earning less than ₹2,000 per day would receive a 15% increase in Year 1 and 5% each in second and third years. For those earning less than ₹1,000 per day, the proposal was a 20% increase in Year 1 and 5% in second and third year.

These proposals now stand nullified after the workers’ union rejected them.