A protest was organised by the East Coast Railway Shramik Congress (ECoRSC) here on Thursday to condemn the orders or the Railway Board not to allow Supervisors, working in the Safety Department, not to participate in trade union activities as ‘office bearers’.
Working president (central) Tammineni Narasinga Rao described the Railway Board orders as a ‘dictatorial step’ and said it would not be accepted by the trade unions. Agitations were being organised all over the country by trade unions in the railways against the orders.
ECoRSC Divisional Coordinator T.V. Mouleswara Rao said the Railway Board orders had come as a ‘shocker’ to all Supervisors, in the Grade of ₹.4,200 and above of Safety Category. In a letter to the Chairman of the Railway Board, Mr. Mouleswara Rao said the orders were against the Trade Union Act.
The same orders mentioned that there was no objection if they became members of the trade union, which was a contradiction. Once an employee became a member, he has a right to contest the elections for the post of office- bearer. He also noted that the Railway Board has no right to interfere with the Trade Union Act, unless the same was modified in Parliament. He appealed to the Board to withdraw its orders immediately. A number of Safety Supervisors, ECoRSC central leaders P. Balaram Swamy, J. Sampath Kumar, B. Satyanarayana, NSL Koteswara Rao and M. Sanyasi Rao and Branch secretaries were among those who participated in the dharna.
A memorandum was sent to the Chairman, Railway Board, through the DRM.
