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In a strike ballot held last weekend, almost 95 per cent of railway employees have voted in favour of an indefinite strike with effect from April 11 — if the Centre fails to reach a negotiated settlement on their 11-point charter of demands.
The strike ballot by rail unions was held following a meeting of the National Joint Council of Action (NJCA) of central government employees on February 8, which decided to proceed on indefinite strike from 6 am on April 11 if their demands are not resolved.
NJCA is a joint body of federations and unions representing 32 lakh employees in Central government departments, including postal, railway and defence workers.
Indian Railways is the largest government employer with 13 lakh employees.
The strike ballot was held by the All India Railwaymen Federation (AIRF), the largest railway union, and the National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR), among others.
“About 94.87 per cent of 9.69 lakh employees have voted for an indefinite strike from April 11,” Shivagopal Mishra, General Secretary, AIRF, told BusinessLine .
The Demands The rail unions are demanding settlement of issues raised by the NJCA on the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, scrapping of the Bibek Debroy report on restructuring of the Railways and the National Pension Scheme, no privatisation/outsourcing/contractorisation of governmental functions, no foreign direct investment in Railways and Defence, filling up of all vacant posts, and regularisation of casual/contract workers, among others.
In a statement, Mishra, who is also the NJCA convener, announced that notices for withdrawal of labour i.e. strike, would be served to the respective employers on March 11, while urging the Centre to take immediate steps to arrive at a “negotiated settlement”.
NFIR said failure to do so would lead to strike notices being served on “General Managers of the Zonal Railways, production units etc., on 11th March 2016, and the indefinite strike in Railways shall commence from 11th April 2016.”
If the strike does take place, this could well be the “biggest and historic” strike by Railway employees, “the responsibility of which shall lie with the Government of India,” AIRF said in a statement. In 1974, George Fernandes, the then President of the AIRF, had led a 20-day strike.
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