Health workers, attached to the Government Hospital for Chest and Communicable Diseases (GHCCD) and at the Visakha Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS), staged a protest, under the aegis of CITU, demanding payment of their salary arrears, at the Collectorate here on Monday.
CITU leaders V. Krishna Rao and P. Venkata Rao said that the health workers, who had worked from August 2020 to January 2021, were not paid their PF by the contractor. A total of ₹36,000 was payable to each worker. They also said that VIMS had to pay an additional ₹16,000 to each of the 80 workers for 40 days. They alleged that the contractor had not paid the salaries of workers at the Chest Hospital for March, April and May 2021.
The CITU leaders and workers submitted a memorandum to the Collector seeking early payment of salary dues of the workers. They also sought that the State government should abolish the contract system and regularise the services of the workers. They demanded payment of minimum wages of ₹26,000 till their regularisation. The workers threatened to launch a strike, if their demands were not met within a week.
CITU leader K. Kumari, Hospitals Union leader Pothuraju Lakshmi were among those who participated.
