VISAKHAPATNAM: The joint forum of all trade unions at Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) has issued a formal strike notice to the Chairperson and Managing Director of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), proposing to go on a 24-hour strike beginning at 6 am on May 20. The notice, served under Section 22(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, was also marked to the Regional Labour Commissioner (Central), Ministry of Labour, Visakhapatnam.
The unions have presented a comprehensive charter of demands, pressing the management, and the Centre to withdraw the proposed strategic sale of RINL. The key demands include the allotment of captive iron ore mines to RINL, the merger of RINL with the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), and ensuring raw material availability before the re- commencement of Blast Furnace-3 operations. They also demanded a revival plan that includes improving upstream and downstream facilities to run the plant at full capacity.
Among the major workforce-related demands are the immediate implementation of revised wages, regular monthly payment of full salaries, restoration of House Rent Allowance (HRA) with retrospective effect, and a halt to the termination of contract workers. The unions also called for the reinstatement of welfare measures that were withdrawn by the management.
In addition to plant-specific issues, the unions put forth a broader set of demands touching on national labour and economic policies. These include scrapping the four labour codes, halting privatisation of public sector undertakings and the National Monetisation Pipeline, and ensuring a 50% profit share from mineral mining for local communities, especially Adivasis and farmers.
The unions also opposed any form of disinvestment or outsourcing in RINL or SAIL, including the MDO model in mining. They insisted that decisions regarding labour should be made only through bipartite consultations with unions and demanded immediate resolution of long-pending issues related to wages, allowances, and working conditions.
They demanded equal pay for contract workers, higher pensions under EPS as per the Supreme Court judgement, and a national minimum wage of Rs 26,000 per month for all workers, including those in the unorganised sector. Further demands included a minimum pension of Rs 9,000, restoration of the old pension scheme, and removal of ceiling on bonuses and gratuities.