The State government on Tuesday announced a host of concessions, including wage hike, for employees of the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC).
The monthly consolidated pay of supervisors will go up from Rs.4,000 to Rs.4,500 while for salesman, it will be raised from Rs.2,800 to Rs.3,200. Bar attenders will, hereafter, get Rs.2,400 a month instead of Rs.2,100.
This will benefit 30,000 workers, an official release stated. Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi had ordered approval of some more concessions for the employees.
The rate of interest on security deposits placed by TASMAC employees with the Corporation has been increased from 3.5 per cent to six per cent.
Every year, the supervisors, salesmen and bar attenders will get an additionalRs.1,250, Rs.375 and Rs.250 respectively.
The incentive will be enhanced from 1.5 per cent to 1.75 per cent.
The government also announced that there will be no recovery of the cost of damage to empty carton boxes. [After sale of liquor, the empty carton boxes are sold to contractors].
Till now, the wages of employees were proportionately deducted in the event of damages to the boxes. Approximately 2.5 per cent of the boxes get damaged. Hereafter, the management will bear the cost.
The release gave an elaborate account of various welfare measures undertaken by the State government since May 2006. It stated that for political reasons and compulsions, a day-long strike was called by some employees recently in which only a “small fraction” of the employees took part.
Terming the hike “peanuts,” the joint action committee of TASMAC workers accused the government of making the announcement without consulting the trade unions.
“Anything other than regularisation of services, eight-hour duty, weekly offs and other important demands will not satisfy the workers,” the union leaders said in a joint statement.
