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Film and television shootings continued to be affected for the second day today following the indefinite strike call given by Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) demanding stipulated wages and regulated working hours for cine workers.
Several studios in the city like Filmcity, Mehboob studios, Filmistan, Yashraj studios wore a deserted look for the second day as lightmen, spotboys, junior artistes and other technicians including the actors stayed away from the sets.
Nearly 1.5 lakh cine employees are supporting the agitation called by the FWICE, which controls 22 unions covering different crafts associated with the film industry.
Dharmesh Tiwari, president of the FWICE said the decision to strike was taken after matters reached a boiling point.
"We are not demanding any thing extra. Only the wages as signed in the Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) between the producer associations and workers federation," he said.
"A lightman, for example, should get minimum of Rs 450 for working eight hours a day. But, he ends up working for more than 24 hours without getting paid," Tiwari said.
Even the actors working in daily soaps do not get paid on time and are asked to work for prolonged hours resulting in sickness or even fainting on the sets, he added.
FWICE and officials from several producers bodies have been busy in discussions with a view to sort out the issues of cine workers.
The Film and Television Producers Guild of India (FTPGI) comprising 290 top producers from three regions (Mumbai, South and Bengal film industry) will meet today to consider their demands.
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