7th Pay Commission: Revealed! Why Railway staff union up in arms with govt

New Delhi, Jan 21: After Army men, now Railway staff have expressed disappointment over Seventh Pay Commission. Reportedly, Railway Union is upset with government and threatened for an indefinite strike on the issue. They have demanded that some of the recommendations of pay commission must be changed as it will not be beneficial for them.

On Wednesday, the Northern Railway Men Union (NRMU) reportedly staged a protest against the BJP government over the issue. When asked why Union is not happy with CPC, Union line branch secretary Thakur Singh was quoted by the Tribune as saying , "We want pay commission report be rectified".

He further demanded that old pension scheme should be restarted in place of new pension scheme. Another demand of Union is that "the minimum wage should be increased from Rs 18,000 per month to Rs 26,000."

Earlier, All-India Railwaymen's Federation (AIRF) threatened to go on "indefinite strike" if their demands will not be met. Apart from grievances with pay commission, Union also wants filling up of large number of vacant posts in the railways.

"We will conduct a secret ballot on Februray 11 and 12 to decide the date and future course of action (on strike)," AIRF General Secretary Shiv Gopal Mishra said

Currently, he said, there were about 2.5 lakh posts including those of loco pilots, assistant station masters and track men lying vacant in railways.

On new pension scheme, he said, "it should be reviewed as there are many anomalies in it. We want the guranteed pension scheme should be implemented."

OneIndia News