The strike called by sugar mills workers was called off on Monday following a meeting between mills workers’ unions, mills owners and the state government. As a compromise, the mill workers would receive an interim raise of Rs 900 per month and a further meeting of the special committee would be held within two months.

Over 1.5 lakh mills workers had threatened to go on strike from January 2, unless their wage demands were met. Tatyasaheb Kale, President, Maharashtra Sugar Mills Workers Union, had said that though the wage agreement of mills workers had lapsed 20 months back, no new agreement was signed.

The state government had formed a special committee of three members to solve the issue. The committee, headed by Shivajirao Patil, Vice-President, Pune-based Vasantdada Sugar Institute (VSI), has representatives of mills workers and owners, and was supposed to come up with a formula for the new wage agreement for mills workers. The workers had demanded an interim wage rise of Rs 3,000 per month and also payment of arrears worth Rs 500 crores.

Talking about the meeting, Kale said that mills workers had agreed to accept the Rs 900 interim raise given the precarious condition of the industry. “We would meet again after two months and take a final call on the issue,” he said.