Thousand days is quite a long period to survive, especially if you have to run a family without a steady income. For many of the employees of the English Indian Clays Ltd. (EICL) at Veli, it has been quite an ordeal since the company put out a ‘temporary’ lockout notice on August 9, 2020.
As the lockout hits 1,000 days this week, some have quit and taken up other jobs, most of them part-time work with lesser pay, some are still sticking around with the hope of the factory reopening.
“I am 55 years old now and struggling to even fund the education of my two daughters. It is quite difficult to find a new job or learn a new trade at this age. I have defaulted on all my payments. They should atleast try to shift the remaining employees to the plant at Thonnakkal which is functioning,” says Radhakrishnan Nair, an employee.
