BSNL Employees Union resents decision to lay off contract workers

BSNL Employees Union has objected to the state-run entity's decision to do away with contract workers working with it and has sought a review of the decision.

In a letter to the BSNL Chairman P.K. Purwar, the employees union has sought for an urgent meeting of the unions and associations with the Chairman through video conferencing, to discuss about the gainful utilisation of the contract workers.

"Even if the management considers that a section of the contract workers are redundant, they can be gainfully utilised in the marketing activities, to increase the revenue collection of the company. In view of the foregoing, we request you to kindly revisit all your earlier decisions to retrench the contract workers," the letter said.

In its hard-hitting letter, the union has also blamed the company management under Purwar for alleged suicide committed by 13 contract workers due to the non-payment of wages for the past 14 months.

"Ever since you took over as the CMD BSNL, systematic steps are being taken by the Management, to snatch away the livelihood of the contract workers, who have shed their sweat and blood for past twenty years, for the growth and development of BSNL," said the letter by P. Abhimanyu, General Secretary of BSNL Employees Union.

It said that as per the instructions of the CMD, contract workers have already been retrenched in a big way, through the outsourcing of works.

The BSNL Management may justify it's outsourcing of works by drawing comparison to the private telecom companies, which get most of their works done through outsourcing, Abhimanyu said in the letter, adding: "We wish to remind that BSNL is not a private company, but a state-owned Public Sector Company, having the responsibility of discharging its duties to the nation and its people."

A copy of the letter has also been marked to Anshu Prakash, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, among others.