BSNL Employees Defer Indefinite Strike to December 10
Image Courtesy: Financial Express
On Sunday, All Unions and Associations of BSNL (AUAB) decided to defer their strike by one week, as they are scheduled to meet Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha. The indefinite strike, that was supposed to start on December 3, will now start on December 10 if their issues are not resolved in the meeting, AUAB said in a statement.
The demands behind the proposed strike include implementation of 3rd Pay Revision with 15 percent fitment, allotment of 4G spectrum to BSNL as per the proposal submitted by the BSNL management, revision of pension of the BSNL retirees with effect from January 1, 2017, payment of pension contribution by BSNL as per the government rule and settlement of the left out issues of 2nd pay revision committee are the demands of the employees and unions.
On Sunday, the employee unions met Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan, and observed improvement in some of the issues that they have been raising, like allotment of 4G spectrum, pension revision, and payment of pension contribution by BSNL as per the government rule.
Read More: BSNL Employees Oppose Carving Out of Separate Mobile Tower Company to Aid Pvt. Players
However, AUAB said in the statement that they were not satisfied with the secretary’s reply in respect to their demand on 3rd Pay Revision. The officials have sought time for one week. They are hoping to resolve these issues in the meeting with Sinha. If their demands are not met in the meeting, they will start the indefinite strike on December 10.
The employees have been alleging that allotment of 4G spectrum to BSNL is being deliberately delayed by the government to allow advantage to private telecom operators, especially Jio. In a letter sent to Sinha on November 28, the unions urged the government to create opportunities for the BSNL to compete with other telecom service providers in the market.
The statement said, “In case a fruitful settlement does not arise in the meeting with the Hon'ble Minister of State for Communications, the indefinite strike will start from 00:00 hours on 10-12-2018.”
Get the latest reports & analysis with people's perspective on Protests, movements & deep analytical videos, discussions of the current affairs in your Telegram app. Subscribe to NewsClick's Telegram channel & get Real-Time updates on stories, as they get published on our website.
