Hundreds of employees of South Western Railway took out a protest march and staged a demonstration in front of the zonal railway headquarters here on Wednesday seeking fulfilment of their various demands. Pressing for the fulfilment of 26 main demands, among others, the railway employees took out the protest march under the aegis of South Western Railway Mazdoor Union (SWRMU).
Starting from the EMD Diesel Loco Shed on Gadag Road, the protesters marched to the General Manager’s office on Club Road via the zonal headquarters office, Ambedkar Circle and Divisional Railway Manager’s Office. They submitted a memorandum addressed to the General Manager.
After the demonstration in front of the South Western Railway general manager’s office, they proceeded to SWRMU office where a special general council meeting was held, during which a resolution to go on an indefinite strike from the first week of March was passed.
Addressing the employees at the union office, SWRMU general secretary A.M. D’Cruz said that a meeting of the Joint Consultative Machinery had not been held in the last seven years to negotiate on various issues, and discussions at various levels had not yielded any result.
Mr. D’Cruz said that while the railwaymen federation had demanded minimum wages of Rs. 26,000 for Group D staff, the Seventh Pay Commission had recommended Rs. 18,000 and moreover, it had recommended for abolition of 56 existing allowances. Likewise, house rent allowance for Class A cities had been reduced from 30 per cent to 24 per cent, for Class B cities from 20 per cent to 16 per cent and for unclassified cities from 10 per cent to 8 per cent, he said.
He said that the charter of demands had been submitted to the government and if the demands were not met then, the union had decided to go on an indefinite strike from the first week of March.
