Workers public sector undertakings (PSUs) in Puducherry continued with their indefinite dharna, near the Legislative Assembly, demanding payment of their pending salaries, for the third day on Thursday.
Workers of the Puducherry Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) resorted to a flash strike and stopped operating bus services from the afternoon. Irked over the non-payment of salaries for over three months, the PRTC bus crew returned to the depot. The crew refused to operate the buses until management disbursed their salaries.
The arrears date back anywhere between 10 months to about three years for the employees. The workers draped wet towels around their stomachs and staged a novel protest.
Over 10,000 employees in as many as 13 PSUs are yet to be intimated about the Deepavali advance.
The Anglo French Textiles mill has been non-functional for the last few years. “The strength of the workers has come down and wages have not been paid for several months. No service benefits have been extended to retired employees. As a result, the workers have been facing difficulties for three years. Though the management had fixed dates for reopening the mill, it has not yet started functioning,” a trade union leader said.
Fruitless protests
The situation in Puducherry Agro Service and Industries Corporation Limited and other cooperative institutions is no better, and the employees have remained idle for months together, he said.
Raising slogans against the Government, the agitated workers said there should be no further delay in disbursement of wages.
“Both the Chief Minister and the Lt. Governor have been indulging in a blame game and hoodwinking the employees without finding a solution to the crisis,” said another trade union leader.
