Members of the Joint
Council of Action South Zone which represents employees from the
Railway, Defence, Postal and other Central Government departments
organised a protest meeting near the Collectorate premises here on Monday.
More than 300 members of various associations, including Southern
Railway Mazdoor Union (SRMU), All India Defence Employees’ Federation
(AIDEF) and National Federation of Postal Employees (NFPE), participated
in the protest meeting. Zonal president Raja Sridhar and divisional
secretary J.M. Rafiq addressed the meeting.
The members also submitted a petition at the Collectorate along with a
copy of the demands adopted by the National Convention of the Central
Government Employees in December 2014.
In their 37-point charter of demands, the employees asked for the
implementation of wage revision for Central government employees, which
should be done once in every five years.
‘No privatisation’
They also demanded that no privatisation or Foreign Direct Investment
should be allowed in railways and defence establishments, and opposed
corporatisation of postal services.
Among other things, they also opposed outsourcing and privatisation of
governmental functions and asked the government to withdraw the proposed
move to close down printing presses.
Stating that many residential quarters needed renovation, the employees
urged the Central government to carry out repairs, not to compel staff
to stay in inhabitable quarters, and pay house rent allowance.
