Government resorting to arm-twisting VSP employees, alleges AITUC

AITUC president accuses government of weakening VSP workers financially, urges them to continue fight against privatization.

The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) State president Ravulapalli Ravindranath has alleged that the government attempted to weaken the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) employees and workers financially and morally by not paying them salaries.

While the VSP employees and workers have been agitating for the last 1,346 days against the government’s move to privatise the steel plant, the government was using pressure tactics to weaken the agitation, he said. 

In a press release on Sunday, Mr. Ravindranath said the employees were not paid their salaries and also, the raw materials required for the plant were not supplied. The government was deliberately creating hurdles and failing to supply adequate raw materials and working capital for the plant. In addition, the government has now withdrawn around ₹400 crore from the Leave Encashment Fund, which was set up ten years ago with ₹600 crore by the Steel Plant management to allow employees to encash up to 300 days of leave upon retirement.

Since May this year, payments from this fund have been stopped, causing further distress among the workers, he said. He added that the House Rent Allowance (HRA) was also stopped, and electricity charges were increased steeply.

He added that the employees and workers should remember that they had successfully opposed the dismissal of 4,000 contract workers and halted certain job transfers. They should stay strong and continue the fight against privatisation without losing morale, he said, urging them to prepare for even more united movements.