Visakhapatnam: Central labour commissioner K J. Mohanty has asked the management of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) to pay wages to its employees, which have been pending since six months.The commissioner held talks with representatives of RINL – DGM Finance A. Ram Prasad and HR manager Y.H. Shankar – and CITU leaders Ayodhya Ramu and E. Ramaswamy, in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday. The CITU leaders had earlier made an online complaint to the central labour office on non-payment of wages. Responding to the central labour commissioner’s directive, RINL officials told the commissioner that they need some more time as the company is limping back to normalcy. Against this, Ayodhya Ramu pointed out that the RINL management has earned Rs 6,200 crore from steel sales from December last year till February 25. But the local steel management is taking this aspect into consideration. “Till today, we have been organising protests peacefully to protect the interests of the VSP. But the management is considering this as incompetence. It is underestimating the labour struggles,” the CITU commented in a veiled warning. In this regard, Ayodhya Ramu pointed out that the contract workers have already given a strike notice against the management’s stance on wages. The CITU leader said as a last recourse, their trade union will file a petition in the AP High Court seeking its direction to the RINL management on payment of wages.
Source link
