Visakhapatnam Contract Labour Union has demanded payment of salaries payments pending for the last two months, to the contract labour working in the local government hospitals. In a press release , the union president B.Thaviti Raju, honorary president J.D.Naidu and secretary J.Ganesh said that the contract labour doing menial jobs in different hospitals were the lifeline of the hospitals and were playing an important role in the upkeep of the hospitals. The workers would end up in starvation if salary payments were further delayed. The agency which promised to pay salaries to workers by 10th of every month failed to keep its promise, they lamented.
The contract labourers are scattered in KGH, Victoria government hospital, Respiratory and Infectious Diseases government hospital. Government hospital for mental care, Government ENT hospital, Regional eye hospital and RCD government hospital. As many as 230 workers are working under the outsourcing agency which engaged them.
The union leaders are also demanding increase in their salaries to Rs.12,500 keeping in view the spiralling prices of essential commodities apart from covering the workers under provident fund, employees state insurance, extension of weekly offs and vaccination of all workers to protect them from infections and diseases.
