Pressing for a respectable wage agreement in next National Joint Committee for Steels (NJCS) to be held on November 20, the workers of the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) and its raw material divisions at Kalta and Tensa wore black badges during their duty time and congregated near Bisra Chowk on a mass demonstration on Monday afternoon. The call was jointly given by the trade union members of NJCS, CITU, INTUC, HMS and AITUC.
According to CITU vice- president Bishnu Mohanty, the NJCS agreement is already delayed for 22 months and during these periods each worker in SAIl has faced loss to the tune of more than Rs1 lakh. Due to delay in wage agreement, about one lakh permanent workers and more than one lakh contract workers under SAIl are rendered losers, he added.
“While on the one hand, there is a price escalation, on the other, there is no increment in salary and restriction on reward and incentive schemes. So the workers are running under financial constraints. Today due to untiring efforts of the workers, the production and productivity of the SAIl has gone up. But instead of giving the genuine due of the workers, the management is silent on the issue,” lamented Mohanty.
Similarly, the contract workers are getting very low wages than what is their due and working in inhospitable environment. So, the enhancement of contract labourers’ wage is inevitable, he opined.
AITUC leader Prabhat Mishra said while the officers are paid high salary with other additional benefits, the wage agreement is delayed which reveals the ill intention of the management. So by understanding the reality, the management without testing the fortitude of the workers, further should accept the demands of the working class, Mishra demanded.
Among others INTUC leader Prasant Behera, HMS leader Gunanidhi Bla and many trade union leaders spoke.