Tension prevailed at Labour Minister K. Atchannaidu’s office here on Thursday when CITU activists gathered there and tried to stage a protest demanding fixation of Rs. 18,000 as minimum wages for workers.
The trade union organised a rally from the Srikakulam Tehsildar's office to the Labour Minister's office to highlight the woes of the workers throughout the State. The union also sought immediate appointment of an advisory board on minimum wages and demanded that the government should not relax labour laws to benefit industrial heads.
The trade union district president M. Tirupati Rao and general secretary D. Govinda Rao alleged that the Labour Minister failed to resolve the problems of workers in the State. They sought setting up of an ESI hospital at Pydibhimavaram to serve the 50,000 workers in the industrial zone. Mr. Govinda Rao alleged that the government had ignored the demand for several years, forcing the workers to go to Visakhapatnam for treatment under ESI facility.
The police personnel took Mr. Govinda Rao and others into custody and foiled their attempt to squat before the Minister's office. The workers raised slogans against the government and the cops during the agitation.
