About 10,500 contract employees of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), are a happy lot following the trust board decision on Friday to implement GO number 11 increasing the minimum salary of a contract worker from Rs 4,030 to Rs 5,500.
Though the employees, led by CITU, demanded implementation of GO number 3, raising the minimum salary to Rs 6,700, in a compromise formula, they agreed for GO Number 11 for now.
Contract employee Vani said she received Rs 3,700 earlier after the deduction of PF and ESI, which was not sufficient to support the family.
Now with the increase in salary, she could plan her spending better.
Though the employees are demanding arrears from January, the trust board did not take any decision on the matter in Friday’s board meeting.
It was left to executive officer LV Subramanyam to decide.
CPM leader Kandarapu Murali, a key negotiator on behalf of the contract workers, told Express that the salary of an unskilled worker now increases by 6.5 percent, semi-skilled worker ‘s pay by 7.5 percent, skilled worker’s salary by 8.5 percent and highly skilled will get 9.5 percent more every six months automatically. There will be no need to agitate for pay hike again and again, he said.
However, Murali said the fight for implementing GO number 3 would continue. Also, there will be protests if the TTD does not pay arrears, Mural said.