New Delhi
Around 9,000-strong workforce of non-executive employees of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) have threatened to go on a strike from June 30 if their demands regarding pay hike and promotions were not met. A section of the DMRC Staff Council has been demonstrating at the Yamuna Bank and Shahdara metro stations since June 19.
Confirming that the staff have threatened to intensify the stir if their demands were not met by June 29, the DMRC staff council said, “The demands have been sent to Delhi Metro authorities and the Union Urban Affairs Ministry, seeking redressal of their grievances.”
“Our first demand is that that the DMRC Staff Council be changed to a DMRC Employees’ Union as the council is not a constitutional body and so, it does not have any teeth. “Other demands include implementation of our Industrial Dearness Allowance (IDA) as per the 3rd pay revision scale,” PTI quoted council’s secretary, Ravi Bhardwaj, as saying.
Bhardwaj also said that on the first day many employees, from drivers to station controllers and other staff, wore black armbands to register their protest. “Subsequently, when the DMRC did not take cognisance of our demands, we went on symbolic hunger strike, when many of our members did not consume food while on duty and demonstrated by sitting on platforms,” he said.
According to the DMRC, there are a total of 12,000 people employed with the transporters. A call was sent out by the council to the members to join the stir, but not everyone has participated in the agitation. ”
