CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday hiked the salaries of TASMAC employees and announced a couple of concessions for them, even while keeping mum on their main demand: regularisation of their services.
The new decision would come into force from September 1, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi said here.
The employees seemed unhappy with the matter. The Joint Action Committee of Associations of TASMAC Employees said the government had set a “bad example” by announcing the salary hike without consulting the trade unions that struck work last Wednesday. “The announcements are aimed at diluting the actual demands of the TASMAC workers,” the body said.
The announcement would not satisfy the workers as it had kept silent on their vital demands: regularisation of services, weekly holiday and eight-hour duty, said Anna Thozhil Sanga Peravai president R Chinnasamy, AITUC-affiliated TASMAC Employees Union State president P S Soundarapandian, CITU-affiliated TASMAC Employees State Federation vice-president S Jayaprakasan and Pattali Thozhil Sanga Peravai chief K V Siva in a joint statement.
An official release, on the other hand, said the Chief Minister voluntarily chose to salary hike apart from announcing other concessions even though only a minuscule section of TASMAC employees went on the August 11 strike “due to political reasons and other compulsions”. The announcements stood as a “proof to the attitude of the government towards those employees who had not supported the agitations despite instigation,” it said.
The consolidated payment for superintendents will be hiked to `4,500 from `4,000, while the pay for salesmen will be increased to `3,200 from ` 2,800. The salary of bar assistants will go up to `2,400 from `2,100.
The interest rate for the deposit amounts of the workers will be hiked from 3.5 per cent to six per cent.