SEAR accuses central trade unions of indifferent attitude

Rourkela: The Steel Employees Association, Rourkela (SEAR) Working President B Tiwary said that the central unions are indifferent towards workers’ plight. He said this at a meeting of the association at Sector-7 here today. The representatives of central trade unions like HMS, INTUC, AICTU and CITU who had formed National Joint Committee for Steel Industries (NJCS) and had a meeting for finalizing the workers’ new pay scale since the last six months, are exploiting them, he alleged.

He said the workers in Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) have expressed concerns over delay in wage revision since January 1, 2012 and urged the authorities to take immediate steps for wage revision and to provide interim relief at the rate of 30 per cent of the Minimum Guaranteed Benefit (MGB) as well as 46 per cent fringe benefit as given to officers.

SEAR members demanded that the workers of RSP should get the benefits with ex-gratia including proportionate PRP (Performance Related Pay) as given to all executives, contractual workers to get 20 per cent bonus on their salary before puja, raising minimum wages of these workers to Rs. 370 per day, opening of zero balance accounts, providing PF slips on time and abiding by retrenchment guidelines strictly. Tiwary stated that if these demands are not met, then the SEAR members will be compelled to organize a broad based and wider agitation to achieve their genuine demands.

Among others General Secretary Baidyanath Das, Additional General Secretary S R Majhi, Vice President Hemant Beura and S Nayak were present.