The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Unions serve strike notice

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 08, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Unions serve strike notice

Special Correspondent

They demand early constitution of Sixth Pay Commission

CHENNAI: Major trade unions of various Central Government organisations on Tuesday served a strike notice, demanding implementation of their 20-point charter of demands, including early constitution of the Sixth Pay Commission.

According to the Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers Coordination Committee, employees throughout the country would go on an indefinite strike from March 1. As per the statutory provision, the unions have given a 21-day notice. On February 23, the employees would take out processions.

Confederation general secretary M. Duraipandiyan said the pay commission should have been set up in 2003 itself. As all their attempts to find a solution through negotiation failed, the employees were forced to resort to agitation.

Efforts were being made to introduce a new pension scheme for the employees and reduce the interest rate on provident fund and the number of employees in various departments, he said.

In Southern Railway, unions handed over the notice to General Manager Thomas Varghese. The Southern Railway Mazdoor Union, the Southern Railway Employees' Sangh, the Dakshin Railway Employees Union and the Dakshin Railway Karmic Sangh served the notice individually.

Earlier, employees came in a procession from the Moore Market Complex to the Southern Railway headquarters.

SRMU general secretary N. Kanniah said the employees, including the running staff (drivers and guards), would take part in the strike. Talking to presspersons here, Mr. Kanniah said the decision was taken at the all-India level.

Though the Prime Minister had made an informal announcement that the pay commission would be set up soon, he was yet to announce the terms of reference and a time frame for announcement of interim relief. The joint action council would meet again to work out a strategy for making the strike success, he said.

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