Central Railway Contract Labour Sangh (CRCLS) held a Press Conference on Thursday in Mumbai because more than 200 workers who were working at CSMT for 5 to 10 years were abruptly removed from their jobs.
Railway has given the contract of Housekeeping of CSMT stations to new contractors. Central railway has removed more than 200 workers. The contractor has appointed 100 new workers by paying them less wages and increasing their duty time more than 8 hours.
Amit Bhatnagar, General Secretary of CRCLS told us, “New contractor removed the old workers without giving them any prior notice. Contractor hired new workers by paying them less wages. This is clearly exploitation of workers. How can big stations like CSMT be cleaned with just 100 workers?”
“Railway Administration has to Pressurize the contractor instead of being pressurized by the contractor. Those workers did work in a pandemic to clean the station but instead of giving them reward, workers were dismissed from work,” he further said.
It is also reported that the contractor is threatening old workers. These workers were getting a monthly salary for 5 to 10 years, therefore, contractors can’t be throwing workers without following proper procedure. Workers have not received any notice.
Railway is the largest organisation and can’t leave everything to the contractor. A contractor can’t work as a dictator in railways. He must listen to Railway authorities to ensure the safety and progress of railways keeping interest of labor in mind, according to Press Note.
Shantaram Gangurde, President of CRCLS told us, “70% of workers in railways are contract-based workers. Railway will collapse if these workers stop their work for just one hour. We believed in Gandhi’s ideology but don’t force us to get on road.”
The workers requested the Divisional Railway Manager and General Manager to intervene in this matter and give justice to them.
