Kerala cooks plan hunger strike for fair wages

School cooks in Kerala plan to hold a hunger strike on April 4 and 5 in front of the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram. They are protesting against the state government's treatment of their employment status and wages. The Kerala School Cooking Workers' Union wants the government to restore a previous order from 2016. That order recognized school cooks as employees with defined wages and workloads. However, the current government, led by Pinarayi Vijayan, revoked that classification, labeling them as daily wage laborers. Workers now say they work long hours from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. without breaks but are not considered employees. Instead, they only get an honorarium, which the union argues is unfair. The union's secretary, G. Shanavas, stated that the workers have not received salaries past December 2024. The union is looking for a system like Tamil Nadu's, where school cooks are treated as part-time employees with fair pay and benefits. During the hunger strike, trade union leaders, including former MP Thampan Thomas, will speak to rally support. Despite previous protests, the workers feel that the government remains unresponsive to their demands. They are asking for overdue salaries, a raise in daily wages, and better health care provisions, among other requests. The union also seeks compensation for families of workers who have died in work-related accidents.