Staff stir: Metro Rail suspends six more for ‘abandoning duty’

The permanent employees resorted to a flash strike on April 29 after the management terminated the services of seven union office bearers.

On May 1, the strike was called off after the management agreed during conciliation proceedings by the state labour department, to positively consider the appeal of the terminated workers and that no action would be initiated on the workers who took part in the strike. The union have been raising several issues including outsourcing and cuts in their allowance.

Contrary to the assurances given by the management at the conciliation meeting, CMRL Employees Union alleged that the Chennai Metro has suspended six more employees on the charges ofabandoning duty during the strike.

“As of now, nine employees are under suspension including three who were suspended on May 1 by the management alleging that they had indulged in the sabotage of the signalling system which caused disruption of services. Interestingly, when the charge sheets were served to the three suspended on May 1, there was no mention of sabotage, but they were accused of abandoning duty instead,” said Elango, the vice president of CMRL Employees Union.

One of the workers said that even as the management continues to suspend the workers for participating in the strike, there was no response on the appeal filed by the dismissed workers yet. “Now the dismissed workers were asked to vacate from the housing quarters while the appeal is pending,” he said.

The union leader said that when they raised the issue of the victimiation of workers who took part in the strike in the conciliation meeting on May 20, the Metro officials were not present but their advocates objected to the proceedings citing a court stay over the question of jurisdiction of the central and the state labour department.