Regular employees and contract workers of the Salem Steel Plant (SSP) launched a ‘stay-in strike’ from the first shift on Thursday morning to protest against the nod given by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for the strategic sales of the SSP.
The strategic sales is aimed at reducing government ownership in the Salem Steel Plant to below 51 per cent, and thus allowing a private player to have a major share.
The employees affiliated to CITU, INTUC, LPF, and the Salem Steel Plant SC and ST Officers and Employees Welfare Association staged a demonstration in front of the main gate of the SSP in the morning.
Later, the trade union leaders met Vishnudeo Sai, Minister of State for Steel and Mines, who visited SSP en route to Kerala, and handed over to him a petition to drop the proposal to divest in the Salem Steel Plant, in the overall interests of the workers and Tamil Nadu.
The Prime Minister’s Office, on the recommendation of the NITI Aayog, on September 20, had given the nod for the strategic sales of 22 public sector undertakings (PSUs), including the SAIL plants at Salem, Durgapur and Bhadravati.
P. Panneerselvam, president of the Steel Plant Employees Union CITU, told ‘The Hindu’ that the nod of the PMO to go for strategic sales had shocked the entire workforce and the people of the country.
He said the move was not a fair one and would badly hit the industrial progress of the country. The Centre’s proposal was unacceptable, he said, adding that the government did not listen to the various suggestions put forth by the trade unions for improving the functioning of the SSP and strengthening its economic viability. All political parties of Tamil Nadu and trade unions had opposed the Centre’s move. The State government had already said that it would not allow the disinvestment, he said.
Source:THe Hindu