Almost 50 years after the 20-day railway workers’ strike in 1974 that shook the then Indira Gandhi government, preparations are underway for another indefinite strike in the sector on the issue of the old pension scheme (OPS). Trade unions will hold a secret ballot on November 20 and 21 among about 12 lakh Indian Railways employees and 3.9 lakh civilian workers at various defence establishments, including ordnance factories, seeking their approval for an indefinite strike to replace the National Pension Scheme (NPS) with the OPS.
The movement for reinstating the OPS has the support of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-affiliated trade union, the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS). The BMS is holding a workers’ rally here on November 22 with the same demand. BMS general secretary Ravindra Himte told The Hindu that his organisation would not oppose its members from taking part in the secret ballot. “We are demanding restoration of OPS. We will not give any call to participate in the secret ballot, but we will not oppose it,” Mr. Himte said, adding that the BMS would strengthen its protests for OPS parallelly.
The Joint Forum for Restoration of Old Pension Scheme (JFROPS), a platform of about 60 unions working in Central government establishments and Central Public Sector Undertaking, is organising the strike ballot. Since Railways and Defence sector establishments are governed under the Industrial Disputes Act, it’s mandatory for recognised unions to take a secret strike ballot amongst their members.
The ballot will be valid only if 75% members participate in it, and a strike can be called if two-thirds of the votes are polled in favour of it. “This is a demand of 30 lakh Central government employees. We are sure of getting the support of all employees for an indefinite strike,” All India Defence Employees Federation general secretary C. Srikumar said, adding that the unions’ intention is to hold a legal strike involving every worker.
The JFROPS will meet in Delhi after the ballot and decide the date of serving the strike notice to the Centre. The discussion among the unions is on beginning the strike on February, before the announcement of the General Election.
As almost 60% of the total workforce of the Centre is under the NPS, the unions expect large support for the strike, especially from young workers. “We will not accept anything lesser than the restoration of OPS,” Hind Mazdoor Sabha president Harbhajan Singh Sidhu, who was arrested, jailed and removed from his job in the Railways job for participating in the 1974 strike, said. “This time, the enthusiasm of workers is much more as 7.6 lakh young workers in Railways, who are under NPS, are not ready for any compromise such as increasing the pension amount given under the NPS,” Mr. Sidhu said.
He said although there had been three secret ballots for strike after 1974 in the Railways, the government had averted the strike with discussions. “This time, the only demand is scrapping of OPS, and the Centre does not have any proposal for us as of now,” he said.
The workers’ main grievance is that after retirement, they would only get ₹2,000 to ₹5,000 as pension, whereas under OPS, 50% of the last drawn basic pay is statutorily assured as pension, with compensation for price rise, including dearness relief.
