Chennai: Tasmac workers, who resorted to a ‘token three-hour strike’ from noon till 3pm on Monday, fleeced tipplers who queued up outside liquor shops. With fewer shops open at noon, tipplers were forced to pay 60 extra for a 180ml bottle. Lower-quality liquors, whose maximum retail price (MRP) is 140, were sold for 200. Tipplers who are used to paying 10 extra over the MRP on Monday cribbed about paying 50 more.
Though an outlet in M K B Nagar (Shop No 165) sold liquor at 30% extra cost, tipplers, who had no other option, stood in a long queue to buy liquor. Such fleecing was reported in other parts of the city too, as several bar owners stocked up liquor and sold it on the black market to those who queued up at the closed TASMAC outlets. “If we raise questions about the price, they ask us to wait till 3pm,” said an elderly customer.Of the 260 shops in Chennai district alone, only 39 shops opened at noon. Across the state, only 1,300 out of the 4,749 shops opened at noon. The workers opened the shops at 3pm instead of the usual noon hour, protesting delay in non-acceptance of their long-pending demands.In Egmore, some tipplers got together and protested, demanding that a liquor shop be opened, and police had to intervene. Tasmac sources said many salesmen opened the shops before 1pm, fearing departmental action. In Kancheepuram North, Tasmac management resorted to breaking the shutters open at nine shops to begin sales by deploying depot workers.“Tiruvallur East, Tiruvallur West, Tuticorin, Theni, Ooty, and Pudukkottai are some of the districts where the liquor shops remained shut beyond 2.30pm. Severe action will be initiated against the respective salesmen and supervisors,” said the source.Meanwhile, AICTU-affiliated Tasmac workers’ union general secretary D Dhanasekaran said the token protest was a success despite threats from Tasmac management. “Some workers returned to shops out of fear of repercussions, but a majority stood with the decision,” he said.
