Metro employees question ESMA Act on them, plan to knock court
- Namma Metro employees may strike citing administration not fulfilling any of their demands.
- They are preparing to go to court questioning why they were brought under ESMA.
- ESMA applies to only vehicles that come under Karnataka Motor Vehicles Act and not trains.
- It is not yet decided if the BMRC Employees Union should be recognised says Kharola.
FollowThe Namma Metro Employees' Association is preparing to go to court questioning why they have been brought under the Essential Services Maintenance (ESMA) Act which restricts them from striking work. They are also unhappy with the administration not implementing a single assurance promised during their previous strike, last Friday.
During the meeting after their protest, the Managing Director had agreed to take back all complaints against the employees and also not to resort to disciplinary action against any employee. The strike was withdrawn solely because the MD had agreed to these conditions and not because they were scared of coming under ESMA, said Suryanarayana Murthy, vice president of BMRC Employees Union, reports Kannada Prabha.
The State government had brought Metro employees under the ESMA after they resorted to flash protest leaving lakhs of Bengalureans in lurch, last week. However, BMRCL employees cannot be brought under ESMA as Metro comes under railways and hence the Union is going to question the decision, Suryanarayana Murthy told Kannada Prabha.
It is one year since the BMRCL Employees Union has come into existence yet it is not recognised. The BMRCL Employees Union is registered at the Union Labour Commissioner’s Office and has placed before it 29 charter of demands. The demands include facilities according to the 7th Wage Commission like wages, allowances, and facilities as provided to Delhi and Jaipur Metro employee's, maternity leave, housing and others. They are even demanding drinking water facilities absent in some stations, and biometric log-in machines that in the beginning were 32, have come down to 8 which forces an employee to go to that station to mark his or her attendance. Long queue and wasting of time forces the employee to lose half-a-day’s wage. The BMRCL administration did not attend a single meeting called by the Labour Commissioner’s office, so far. Hence the issue has been handed over to the Labour Tribunal, explained Suryanarayana Murthy.
Former Advocate General Udaya Holla says that ESMA applies to only those vehicles covered under Karnataka Motor Vehicles Act and Metro does not come under that. Hence Metro employees cannot be considered under ESMA.
BMRCL MD Pradeep Singh Kharola said it is not yet decided when to call a meeting of the Metro employees. It is not yet decided about recognising BMRCL Employees Union. He also strategically refused to answer any question regarding usage of Hindi in Metro, reported Kannada Prabha.
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