CHENNAI: Hundreds of daily wage labourers at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park staged a protest demanding regularisation of jobs and urged authorities to drop the move to bring them under contractual agreement via a third party.
A protest was staged on Friday evening by the causal workers, some of whom are working at the zoo for 20 years. There are 219 workers drawing consolidated wage fixed by the Collector.
Jayaseelan, one of the three union leaders, told The New Indian Express that anguish among the workers was after so many years of service, the zoo management was trying to make them contractual workers rather than regularising the service.
"The zoo director is only giving oral promises that in future it will be regularised, but we demand a time-bound action and commitment in writing.”
Recently, the regional EPO Office in Chennai wrote to zoo authorities asking why casual workers were not brought under EPF platform. The zoo management decided bring all casual workers under EPF and identified a third party contractor.
Vandalur Zoo Director Srinivas R Reddy said, "We are following procedure and trying to help workers by bringing them under EPF fold, which will give coverage under Employees State Insurance Corporation. The EPF numbers will boost their chances of getting recruited under Zoo Subordinate Service Rules. There will be no job loss. The third-party contractor will absorb all 219 workers. I held talks with the three unions."