The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : In the name of public good

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 16, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

In the name of public good

At a time when the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited is braving intense competition from private phone service providers, the recent clash that erupted between two groups of embittered unions at the Karur Telephone Exchange resulted in causing more damage to the reputation of the telecom giant than inconveniencing customers.

Scores of customers were mute witnesses to the sham of trade unionism that held the officials ransom for some time.

The clash of interests was between the National Federation of Telecom Employees (NFTE) - BSNL on one side and the combine of the BSNL Employees Union, Federation of National Telecom Employees Organisations and Telecom Employees' Progressive Union on the other.

They were fighting over "prodecural lapses or otherwise" in posting personnel to man the mobile bill payment counters at the Karur Telephone Exchange during the past week.

While the NFTE BSNL members staged a demonstration after going on mass medical leave for a day their opposing unions did not lag behind in "supporting the cause of the public": they simply gheraoed the Deputy General Manager, Vasudevan, squatting around him and not allowing him to move from his chambers.

Even as this drama was going on, a serpentine queue of customers were seen waiting to pay their bills and the cramped Kamarajar Road, where the office is located, was choking in a traffic jam created by vehicles left behind by the customers.

in Karur

From L. Renganathan in Karur

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