MANISH GUPTA
Ranchi, Nov 7: The workers and officers of PSU Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC), with salaries pending for about a year, have decided to take over the campaign to revive the city-based company if the various union leaders fail to provide leadership.
“There are more than 2,600 employees who haven’t been paid their salaries for about a year. We have asked various trade union leaders to forget their differences and jointly fight for the rights,” Hatia Mazdoor Union President Bhawan Singh told lagatar24.com.
More than 250 workers have been protesting at the entrance of the six-decade-old company for the last few days. HEC officers, too, joined their demonstration last Friday. The company has 1,200 permanent employees and 1,480 contractual labourers.
“Workers from various trade unions were present in today’s meeting but their leaders were not. In case, the union leaders fail to provide the leadership required at this crucial juncture, the workers themselves will fight for their rights under Mazdoor Ekta,” he said.
Singh said that the workers have taken a unanimous decision to assemble each day at the gates of HEC plants – Foundry and Forge, Heavy Machine Tools Plant and Heavy Machine Buildings Plant – and from there march towards the head quarter shouting slogans and staging a demonstration at the head quarter till their demands are met.
“We will start this campaign from Wednesday and carry on till the management agrees to our demands including regular wage payment, revamp of the HEC management, modernisation of HEC and appointment of a chairman who is based in Ranchi.”
The city-based company has been running in losses for several years and there is little work with the company. With many workers and officers staying away from work, even the routine work has come to a standstill. The workers plan to escalate their protest over the next few days. If things do not work out, they plan to gherao the Project Bhawan and the Chief Minister’s house in the days to come, said the union leader.
