Joint meeting with Hamali Unions soon on wage hike

Amaravati: Minister for Civil Supplies Nadendla Manohar has assured the representatives of hamali workers that a joint meeting will soon be convened with their unions to discuss the long-pending issue of revising loading and unloading wage rates.

The assurance was given when a delegation of AP Civil Supplies Corporation Hamalis State Union, affiliated with CITU, met the Minister at the Secretariat on Friday and submitted a memorandum outlining their demands.

The delegation included union honorary president K Umamaheswara Rao, CITU Guntur district president B Lakshmana Rao and CITU leaders J Vijayalakshmi, T Tirupatamma and T Chinna, among others.

The union representatives pointed out that around 6,000 hamali workers are engaged in loading and unloading Public Distribution System commodities at mandal-level stock points across the State. They said the previous wage agreement expired on December 31, 2025, and revised rates were due to be implemented from January 1, 2026.

The union demanded that the existing loading and unloading wage of Rs 28 per quintal be increased to Rs 40, citing the sharp rise in the prices of petrol, diesel, cooking gas, essential commodities and electricity over the past two years.

The representatives also sought the implementation of Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) scheme for hamali workers, alleging that the issue had remained unresolved for nearly two decades due to a pending court case.

They further brought to the Minister’s notice the delay in payment of hamali bills for July, stating that the pending payments were causing financial hardship to workers’ families. The union also complained that workers were facing an increased workload due to the requirement of scanning and weighing every bag and sought revised wages accordingly. Responding to their demands, Minister Nadendla Manohar said the government would discuss the issues with the Civil Supplies Commissioner and other officials and take steps for their early resolution.

He assured the union that a joint meeting would be arranged shortly to discuss the revision of wage rates. Regarding the implementation of the ESI scheme, the Minister said the pending court case would be examined in detail and appropriate action would be taken.

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The Hans India