New Delhi, Nov 3 On the second day of the strike by contractual workers at JNU over alleged wage deductions, non-payment of bonuses and other labour rights violations, the university on Tuesday appealed to them to resume work and warned that the “no work, no wages” rule may be enforced.
While sanitation workers continued their strike, mess workers reported for duty wearing black badges to register their protest against the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration, the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) said in a statement.
The union said more than 500 contractual workers employed in sanitation, mess, security, horticulture and maintenance departments were affected by alleged violations, including unlawful wage deductions, non-payment of statutory bonuses, arbitrary suspensions and excessive workloads due to staff shortages.
The workers are demanding an end to alleged illegal deductions from monthly wages, payment of pending bonuses, reinstatement of retrenched workers and an end to suspensions without inquiry. Their other demands include adequate staffing, earned and casual leave, payment for work on holidays, constitution of a grievance redressal cell and implementation of the principle of equal pay for equal work.
According to the union, the workers submitted a charter of demands to the assistant labour commissioner on September 10. Following protests on September 24 and 25, the labour conciliation officer held a meeting between the workers’ union and the university administration and issued directions on issues including salary slips, identity cards, retrenchment, safety equipment and a grievance redressal committee.
The union alleged that the administration had failed to implement key directions despite assurances, prompting the workers to begin their agitation on Monday at Sabarmati T-Point on the campus.
In an appeal dated November 2, the university’s dean of students said some outsourced contractual workers had proceeded on strike despite written advice from the assistant labour commissioner on October 29 to withdraw the strike notice, as conciliation proceedings were still pending.
The university said the proposed strike attracted the provisions of Sections 62 and 63 of the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, and had affected mess and sanitation services in all hostels under the Inter-Hall Administration.
The appeal said the administration had held meetings and taken up the workers’ concerns with the concerned service providers. The Inter-Hall Administration was monitoring the situation and making efforts to restore normalcy, it added.
Urging the workers to return to their respective workplaces, the dean of students warned that the “no work, no wages” rule could be strictly enforced if they failed to do so.
The AICCTU said workers have appealed to the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers’ Association to extend solidarity with the workers and urged teachers, students and other members of the university community to support their demands.
(PTI News)
