G Sampath, general secretary of CITU, Tirupur district, said they received complaints that knitwear firms at Palladam Road, TKD Mill area, Murugampalayam, and Avinashi have been charging their employees for inoculation through private hospitals. “After lifting lockdown restrictions, vaccination drives were ramped up in textile units. But the establishments have been forcibly charging the workers for the vaccination, despite it being an offence,” he said.

Urging the industrial establishments to shoulder the expenses incurred to vaccinate workers, the CITU members said billing the employees is not acceptable as they have been without a job or pay in the past months. “We demand the firms, which have collected money for inoculation, to immediately reimburse the workers. The government should also monitor the process,” Sampath added.

Meanwhile, Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA) president Raja M Shanmugam said all workers should be vaccinated through Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC). “The Centre should ensure direct supply of vaccines from its quota to ESIC to inoculate the insured employees,” he demanded.