Railmen on the warpath

THOUSANDS OF employees and members of the North Eastern Railway Mazdoor Union (NERMU) took out a procession and staged a demonstration at the office of the NER general manager to press the Centre to effectively resolve their demands before the proposed nationwide strike from March 1. The NERMU also handed over a notice to the GM and demanded that the government should sympathetically consider their demands.

THOUSANDS OF employees and members of the North Eastern Railway Mazdoor Union (NERMU) took out a procession and staged a demonstration at the office of the NER general manager to press the Centre to effectively resolve their demands before the proposed nationwide strike from March 1.

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The NERMU also handed over a notice to the GM and demanded that the government should sympathetically consider their demands.

Speaking on the occasion, Railway Karamchari Sangh national secretary Subhash Dubey said the Centre was not paying heed to the demands of the employees and labourers and had not yet constituted the Sixth Pay Commission, though an announcement was made.

He warned the government that it would face the consequences of the resentment brewing among the Central employees.

President of the Sangh Madho Prasad Sharma criticised the government for its privatisation policies in the name of economic reforms.

NERMU president SC Tripathi said the alleged dilly-dallying tactics adopted by the Centre had left no option before the employees, but to give a call for a nationwide strike.

General secretary of the union KL Gupta said mazdoor unions had drawn the Centre’s attention towards their 20-point demands for the last six months, but the government had not fulfilled their demands till now.

Gupta further said political parties should mount pressure on the Centre to check the pursuit the directives of the International Monetary Fund in India and demanded that the impact of economic reforms should be reviewed.

They claimed that unemployment had increased in the last 10 years and many small scale industries were closed.