Workers of the Puducherry Agro Products, Food and Civil Supplies Corporation (PAPSCO), a Puducherry government undertaking, on Thursday abstained from work and staged a dharna in front of the main office demanding salary pending for the last six months.
D. Prakash, president of PAPSCO Employees Union, said their demands included regularisation of daily rated workers, extension of benefits such as Employees Provident Fund and Employees State Insurance scheme to them and immediate disbursal of pending salary.
Mr. Prakash said that a chunk of 1,090 workers including voucher based and daily rated workers had not been paid salary since October.
A section of employees who demanded the management to disburse salary were transferred to outlying regions of Karaikal and Mahe.
He claimed that the government had not regularised even a single employee in the undertaking in the last 13 years. The management was violating all labour laws and even PF and ESI were not credited to the respective accounts.
“We will not rest till the government disburses pending salary to all the workers,” he said.
Attendance in fair price shops, petrol bunks, liquor shops and vegetable outlets run by PAPSCO in various parts of the city were minimal due to the protest by employees.
