Dismayed by the Central Government’s decision to permit Foreign Direct Investment in defence sector, employees of Ordnance Factory, Tiruchi, belonging to National Defence Workers’ Union (NDWU) and its affiliate bodies Indian National Defence Workers Federation and Indian National Trade Union Congress, have decided to go on an indefinite hunger fast from July 22.
The invitation extended by the Government to private firms to manufacture defence products would adversely affect the workload in the factory, affecting the survival of 2,000 employees, and compromise the integrity and defence competency of the nation, the general secretary of NDWU, OFT, A. Gowthaman said.
The work load / annual target of the factory that had been upholding the nation’s defence potential and sustaining the defence requirement by manufacturing various small arms and weapon products was being drastically lowered causing the wages to fall from bad to worse, Mr. Gowthaman said in a press release.
