THOOTUKUDI: Contract labourers attached to the Kovilpatti Government Hospital have urged District Collector K Senthil Raj to direct their employer to provide their wages in accordance with the 2021-22 daily wage structure that was issued by the Collector.
As many as 53 private contract labourers have joined Kovilpatti GH since January 2014, as managers, electricians, plumbers, cooks, gardeners, supervisors, housekeeping, and security guards. In the petition submitted to the Collector, they claimed, "Their previous contractor disbursed salaries based on the 2018-19 pay structure, and the new contractor has also proposed to follow the same instead of following the revised guidelines."
"The present contractor has also proposed a uniform wage system for all workers, whereas the Collector's wage structure contained variations in wages for contingent staff. Further, he is trying to deduct 25% of the wages for the Employment Provident Fund (EPF) contribution instead of the mandate of 12%, and 4% for the Employees State Insurance (ESI) as against 0.75%. This way, he aims to bypass the employer's contribution of 12% EPF and 3.25% ESI," the petition read.
They also alleged the contractor was forcing those who opposed his proposed pay structure to resign. "We have also not been provided the `15,000 sanctioned by the State government for services of the hospital staff during the Covid second wave," they added.