Bike rally held to reinstate suspended NAD employees

Visakhapatnam: Demanding immediate reinstatement of all employees who were suspended at the Naval Armament Depot (NAD) and opposing their suspension, union leaders and employees organised a bike rally here on Sunday.

The rally continued from NAD to the Gandhi statue at Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation office, followed by a public meeting.

Speaking on the occasion, the employees stated that the management suspended 36 employees for fighting for their rights.

Representatives of the Defence Coordination Committee said that the issue was also brought to the notice of TDP state president Palla Srinivasa Rao, Visakhapatnam MP M Sribharat and west constituency MLA PGVR Naidu (Ganababu). Responding to their pleas, they assured them that they would look into the issue and extend their support to the suspended staff.

For the past 20 years, workers and supervisors at the NAD have worked overtime beyond their regular eight-hour shifts, while the extra hours were compensated as overtime, they mentioned. But the new CGM created a problem by declaring that the OT earned so far by workers was against the factories Act and refused to pay for the same. They said that the CGM assigned work to the employees on Saturdays and Sundays and after 8 pm, violating the same Factories Act.

The protesters warned that the agitation would be intensified if the suspended employees were not reinstated.