The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Insurance staff question ceiling on pay hike

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 24, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Insurance staff question ceiling on pay hike

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, MARCH 23. Insurance employees affiliated to eight unions, including those for officers working in public sector insurance companies, began their two-day strike seeking to focus the Government's attention on their long-pending demands.

Members of different unions of employees working in all the four public sector general, non-life insurance companies - National, United India, Oriental and New India Insurance Companies - gathered before the regional office of the United India Insurance and staged a day-long protest. The demands include taking up wage revision pending since 2002, declaration of promotional vacancies and promoting policy.

Demands focused

Slogan-shouting bouts were interspersed with speeches from their union leaders. Among those present were J. Cyril, president, All-India Oriental Insurance Company Officers' Association, Y. Sudhakar Rao, General Insurance Employees All India Association, P.S. Reddy, General Insurance Officers All India Association, and K.V. Bhaskara Reddy, All India Insurance Employees Association.

Mr. Cyril said that a one-day strike on December 21, 2004, had failed to produce the desired results and hence the present move for a two-day strike. He said the Government was agreeable to an 8.5 per cent hike in pay in the non-life insurance sector and wondered why the Government wanted to impose a ceiling on the hike when it was 13.25 per cent in the banking sector and 13.3 in the Life Insurance Corporation.

Mr. Sudhakar Rao regretted that the Government was not inviting union leaders for talks. He said that if they were not called for talks soon, the 75,000-strong workforce of non-life insurance companies in the country would intensify their agitation.

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