PASIC workers picket the Chief Secretariat over wages

Demand payment of salaries pending for 57 months

PUDUCHERRY, 03/07/2019: Workers attached to Puducherry Agro Service and Industries Corporation Limited (PASIC) picketing the Chief Secretariat in Puducherry on Wednesday, demanding payment of pending salaries for several months. Photo: S.S. Kumar / The Hindu

Around 134 employees of the government-run Puducherry Agro Service and Industries Corporation Ltd. (PASIC) were arrested on Wednesday after they picketed the Chief Secretariat, demanding immediate payment of salaries pending for the last 57 months.

Protesters arrested

The workers, led by R. Ramesh, president of the PASIC Workers’ Union, took out a procession to picket the office.

However, the police barricaded the road. At one stage, some workers climbed over the barricades. They were rounded up and arrested.

According to K. Sethu Selvam, State council member of the CPI, the management had failed to disburse salaries to the employees, including voucher-based and daily-rated workers for the last 57 months.

The government was violating all labour laws and should immediately disburse salary arrears, he said.