Contract staff of the State Child Protection Society under the Women and Child Development department staged a token strike on Monday raising a slew of demands.
The token strike was held by nearly 250 employees at the State level and in the 14 district centres under the banner of the Kerala ICPS Employees’ Union seeking restoration of their pay, renewal of their contracts in time, three-year contracts instead of annual ones, and complete implementation of child protection scheme as society mechanism as envisaged under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
The employees observed the token strike in a novel form by taking up a number of activities such as blood donation, clean-ups, planting of fruit saplings, handing over organ donation consents, and conducting ‘annadanam’ in shelter homes.
In the State capital, the token strike held under the umbrella of the Thiruvananthapuram district committee in front of the Women and Child Development Directorate was inaugurated by CITU State committee member Mannaram Ramachandran. “Kerala is the only State to implement minimum wages for all sections of workers. Hence, CITU is with the employees working in the State’s child protection area to get their rights and ensure minimum wages for them.”
The employees had planned an indefinite stir from Monday. However, their demands had been discussed by the Women and Child Development department, Finance department, and the Labour department, and the file concerned sent to the Finance department again for a decision. Talks had also been held by the Labour Commissioner and recommendations made for a favourable decision.
Moreover, the Chief Minister too had communicated that he would intervene in the matter. Against this backdrop, the indefinite stir was postponed to June 1, and a token strike held instead.
Some contract staff of the State Child Protection Society were receiving only half their pay for the past seven months. Failure to renew contracts on time was forcing them to work on daily wages. They were also being denied leave benefits. Nearly 40 employees who had long experience had quit, while others were continuing only because of their commitment, the employees said in a press statement.
Lack of staff had affected the functioning of district child protection units, child care institutions, child welfare committees, and juvenile justice boards in the State.
The plea to the government for minimum wages had not yielded any results, nor had talks held with Minister for Women and Child Development department Veena George, they said.
Kerala ICPS Employees’ Union joint secretary Nishad Muhammed presided over the inaugural. Union district secretary Nimmi and district president Lakshmi spoke.
