The 17-day strike by the contract employees of Telangana power utilities was reportedly called off on Wednesday, after managements assured certain favourable measures including 12 per cent special allowance on minimum basic wages payable monthly.
The sole member on hunger strike, S. Sailu was given lemon juice by the company’s director (HR) Mir Kamaluddin Ali Khan at the Osmania General Hospital, after holding discussions with the striking Telangana Electricity Contract Employees JAC leaders, a press note from the company informed on Wednesday.
Another measure is to raise the amount of ex gratia from Rs.2 lakh to Rs.5 lakh in the event of fatal accidents to the outsourced personnel. However, premium for the insurance will be deducted from the employees’ wages. Further, the method of calculating wages will be re-examined as per the method applied to skilled and semi-skilled labourers, the company promised. However, the contractors or agencies will remain in the loop, and continue to monitor the work of the outsourced personnel and maintain records.
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It is noteworthy that the company’s latest offer made no mention of the earlier offer, which was to pay the salaries directly into the accounts of the employees, instead of routing them through the contractor. It was the main demand by the outsourced employees who also asked that the company should directly enter into a contract with them, ruling out the contractors.
None of the JAC leaders, however, could be contacted for their comments.