PMT staff pin hopes on Joshi

PUNE, Oct 5: The Pune Municipal Transport (PMT) employees' union affiliated to the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) has decid...

PUNE, Oct 5: The Pune Municipal Transport (PMT) employees’ union affiliated to the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) has decided to resort to an indefinite agitation from October 12 if the civic administration failed to pay the stipulated Diwali bonus amount.

The decision was taken at its executive committee meeting on Sunday, said chairman Chandrakant Takawane. He added that a memorandum of their demand will be submitted to Municipal Commissioner and Labour Commissioner on Monday while a delegation will meet the Chief Minister Manohar Joshi during his visit to Pune on Tuesday.

Takawane condemned the decision of not paying the bonus amount on the grounds that the PMT owed tax arrears of around Rs 5 crore to the State Government. The body has incurred losses earlier too but the government has in several cases paid the bonus amount.

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The employees’ union has warned the administration not to make the payment of bonus and ex-gratia amount a prestige issue. They have pinned their hopes on Chief Minister Manohar Joshi who will be in the city on Tuesday.

Municipal Commissioner Rajiv Agarwal had categorically ruled out the payment of 8.33 per cent bonus and Rs 2,750 ex-gratia to the pMT employees during the special general body meeting held on Saturday. The meeting had been convened to ratify the decision taken by the standing committee.

Deriding the decision, M V Akolkar, president of the Pune district unit of Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), said it was a cruel blow to both the PMT and school board employees who have to agitate every Diwali for their rights.

In a statement issued today, Akolkar also threatened to rake in support from over 40 organisations including the defence employees’ union, State Transport employees’ union, divisional office of the ST, Kirloskar Rickshaw union, post and telegraph union, hawkers union, Swastik rubber and photoregistry, bank employees, mill workers and others, if the administration did not pay the PMT and school board employees the bonus and ex-gratia amounts on par with the PMC employees.

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Other employees’ unions including Bharatiya Kamgaar Sena and Shiv Kranti Kamgar Sena have resolved to adopt a confrontationist stance if the administration did not reconsider their decision. Raghunath Kuchik, secretary of the Bharatiya Kamgaar Sena said that several meetings were held yesterday at the PMT depots where the employees too decided that they would resort to an agitation, if the bonus amount was not paid.