VIJAYAWADA: After productive discussion with the ministerial sub-committee representing the State government, leaders of municipal workers’ unions have opted to call off their strike temporarily on Wednesday and are expected to resume their duties starting Thursday.
The committee consisting of Education Minister Botcha Satyanarayana, Advisor to the Government Sajjala Rama Krishna Reddy, and Special Chief Secretary (Municipal Administration) Y Srilakshmi had talks with the leaders of various unions, including the Municipal Employees and Workers Federation affiliated with CITU.
The strike was initiated to pursue various demands, and despite the government’s positive responses in prior discussions, certain issues remained unclear, necessitating further negotiations on Wednesday. Following the successful resolution of these issues, the trade unions agreed to temporarily terminate the strike.
Botcha Satyanarayana announced an honorarium increase of Rs 21,000, along with other facilities and assured that the wages for the strike period will be paid, and cases against the workers will be dropped. Additionally, each worker will receive Rs 1,000 for the upcoming Sankranti festival, he informed.
Stating that families of deceased workers will be compensated according to Supreme Court guidelines, the education minister said that the assistance for accidental deaths has been increased from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh. “Families who haven’t applied since 2019, now have the opportunity to do so, and ex-gratia will be provided within two months for applications submitted after approval.”
Speaking to TNIE, Andhra Pradesh Municipal Workers’ and Employees’ Federation general secretary K Umamaheswara Rao conveyed that they are temporarily calling off the strike until the government issues orders. While most demands have been accepted, he highlighted concerns about engineering workers and wages during the strike period.
He emphasised that if the government fails to issue orders promptly, they may resume the strike.Earlier, the government had agreed to merge an honorarium of Rs 15,000 and an Occupational Health Allowance of Rs 6,000, providing a sum of Rs 21,000 to certain sections of workers. However, labour leaders insisted on the uniform implementation of this system for all workers.
Ambulance employees hold talks with Aarogyasri CEO
Meanwhile, discussions between 108 and 104 employees’ unions with the CEO of Aarogyasri DK Balaji proceeded well. President of the 108 Employees Union, Balli Kiran Kumar, shared that the CEO discussed each demand for about an hour and assured further talks after consulting with Special Chief Secretary MT Krishna Babu.Addl CEO of Aarogyasri Madhusudhan Reddy, 108 Employees Union secretary N Mahesh and others were present.