Civic strike talks fail

Water supply, electricity workers too join agitation

Hyderabad: The talks between the striking Municipal workers and the government failed on Saturday and the Unions representing the employees announced their resolve to continue strike. There were so far five rounds of talks between the workers and the government representatives.

During the two-hour meeting the employees JAC had with the Minister for Labour Naini Narasimha Reddy, the leaders made it clear that they would not call off the strike unless the government agreed to concede their main demand. They demanded that the government increase their salaries in accordance with the recommendations of the Pay Revision Commission (PRC). The employees said they were only asking for what the Chief Minister promised to them on various occasions and also what he stated on the floor of the house.

The employees told the Minister that they would come up with their proposals if the Chief Minister spared just an hour to meet them. If KCR was ready to meet them, all the issues would be resolved and the strike called off, they said. The Minister made all efforts in vain to persuade the workers to call off the strike and then he would talk to the Chief Minister on their demands.

The employees told the Minister that they had waited for two months, expecting a positive response from the government. Earlier in the day as many as 8,000 workers participated in demonstration at Indira Park. The JAC announced the action plan to intensify agitation. Barring TRS, all political parties took part in the demonstration and pledged their support to the strike.

As part of agitation, the workers in water works department stopped water supply all over the State from Saturday morning and also the electricity workers in Municipalities switched off the street lights.CPI state secretary Chada Venkat Reddy said that KCR had praised the Municipal workers as gods, now they were on the roads and the government is not bothered about them.