BSNL Contract workers dharna
Members of the Tamil Nadu Telecom Contract Workers’ Union and the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited Employees’ Union staging a dharna at Palayamkottai on Tuesday.Members of the Tamil Nadu Telecom Contract Workers’ Union and the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited Employees’ Union – Tamil Nadu staged a dharna here on Tuesday.They demanded pay on a par with the salary of Grade D employees of the BSNL.The protestors said that thousands of contract workers had been posted temporarily in the BSNL in housekeeping, cable repairing, telegram delivery etc. even as thousands of postings were remaining vacant, owing to a ban on recruitment. However, the contract workers, who did not have job security, were being given inconsistent pay that varied from district to district.Moreover, the contractors were not making statutory payments of the EPF and ESI, they alleged.
Hence, the contractor workers should be given salary equal to the pay of Grade D employee of the BSNL, the protestors said.While district vice-president of the union D. Gopalan presided over the agitation, R. Karumalaiyan of the CITU inaugurated the protest.State vice-president of BSNL Employees Union V.S. Vemburaja, divisional secretary of Insurance Employees Union R.S. Durairaj and others spoke.Members affiliated to the BSNL Employees Union and Tamil Nadu Contract Workers Union also staged a demonstration in the town.They demanded wage revision for all contract workers deployed in the telecom sector.K Gandhi, president, BSNL Employees Union, spoke.
