CHENNAI: Hundreds of employees of Tasmac staged a wait-in protest in Chennai on Tuesday, demanding job security, time-scale salary, permanent jobs and other benefits.
The protesters had planned to gather in front of the Tasmac managing director’s office in Egmore and march towards the secretariat. However, before they could begin, the police detained nearly 1,000 employees and kept them in two different locations.
According to sources, police had arrested over 1,000 employees on Monday itself to prevent any untoward incident.
Communist Party of India (CPI) state secretary R Mutharasan, who joined the protest on Tuesday, was also arrested along with the employees but was released later in the evening.
Tamil Nadu Tasmac Employees’ Union state general secretary T Dhanasekaran told TNIE, “For the past 20 years, we have been demanding our rights, but in vain. Despite multiple protests, our voices have not been heard. The state government had assured us of an annual increment of `1,000 for all employees, but for the past three years, we have not received even a single rupee. So, we decided to stage a wait-in protest.”
Several political leaders have extended support to the protest and criticised the state government for failing to meet the employees’ demands.
AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran said, “The DMK government, which earns crores of rupees as revenue from Tasmac liquor sale, has now arrested protesting employees instead of addressing their demands. This is highly condemnable.”
He also pointed out that before coming to power, the DMK had promised to regularise contract and temporary employees who had worked for over 10 years in government departments and government-controlled corporations. “Why is the government now refusing to consider Tasmac employees’ demands,” he asked.
The CPI also strongly condemned the police action. In a statement, the party said, “A total of 34,000 Tasmac employees have been working without job security since 2003. Instead of addressing their concerns, the government has arrested over 1,000 protesters and detained them at Anna Kalaiyarangam and the Triplicane government community hall. Several employees have been placed under house arrest.”
The Tamil Nadu State Executive Committee of CPI criticised the police for denying the democratic rights of the protesters and demanded immediate action from the government.