About 40 support staff of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), including office and ground personnel, have go an indefinite strike. Their demands are reinstatement of one of its union leaders Nadeem Hussain – who was suspended recently, revision of pay scales and clearing arrears pending since the last two years.
The staff is protesting at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Uppal, which is due to host the first home game of this Ranji season next week. The bone of contention is that the HCA is against the staff indulging in union activities.
But, when a union member Nadeem went to the High Court and got a ‘favourable order’, the HCA suspended him which led to the current agitation. “Our first demand is to reinstate Nadeem and clear all our dues,” said Mallesh, a member of the ground staff. “We also want to know why the BCCI special incentive given to the HCA ground staff for preparing the best pitches for the IPL was not disbursed till now,” he added.
However, HCA Secretary K. John Manoj claimed all dues have been cleared except the IPL money, and that too would be paid soon. “Given the financial constraints, we have postponed it to next month. But, we are hurt at the wild allegations that we swindled money,” he said.
“We are also seeking the Labour Department’s help as we have utmost respect of our staff, but if they continue the strike into the Ranji season, we will be forced to look for alternate staff ,” he said.
