7th Pay Commission: Central govt staff unions meet Rajnath ahead of July 11 strike

New Delhi, Jul 6: Ahead of the July 11 strike called by the central government employees' unions against the 7th Pay Commission's recommendations, representatives of various unions today met Home Minister Rajnath Singh for talks which were termed as "positive" by the government.

Sources said the unions and the government evolved a "broad consensus" and arrived at an understanding that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley would make a statement on the issue soon. Today's was the second meeting the employees' unions had with the government on the issue.

Earlier, they had met the Group of Ministers chaired by Singh on June 30. The National Joint Council of Action (NJCA) of central government employees' unions including Railways, Post & Telegraph and Defence have announced an indefinite strike from July 11 against the "unilateral" announcement of the Central government on implementation of 7th Pay Commission's awards.

A number of employees' unions have extended support to the proposed strike call by NJCA. The unions have said the recommended pay hike was the lowest in the last 70 years. They have also accused the government of announcing the awards "unilaterally" without any consultation with them.

The Central Trade Unions will be meeting tomorrow to chalk out an action plan and express their solidarity with the government employees. RSS affiliate Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) and other trade unions have rejected the recommendations, contending that it would increase disparity between the minimum and maximum pay.

Maintaining that the government has "disappointed" the employees, BMS has announced country-wide protests on July 8 against the decision and warned implementation of the 7th pay commission's recommendations may lead to industrial unrest.

PTI