Seventh Pay Commission: Central Government Employees Unions Defer July 11 Strike

Central government employees' unions on Wednesday (06 July) deferred by four months their proposed indefinite strike from July 11 against 7th pay panel's recommendations after government agreed to set up a high-level committee to look into their grievances.

"We have decided to defer our indefinite strike by four months against pay commission's recommendations as government today assured us it would resolve the issues raised by us and refer them to a high-level committee," the convenor of National Joint Council of Action (NJCA) of central government employees' unions Shiv Gopal Mishra told Press Trust of India.

The government decided to set up a high-level committee after the representatives of the unions met Home Minister Rajnath Singh earlier in the day.

The committee will look into issues raised by various unions of central government employees involving pay scales and other recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission.

Mishra said: "We have been assured by the government that it will resolve the issues shortly. In view of the assurance, we have decided to defer the strike for four months."

"A new high-level committee will soon be set up to look into the grievances raised by the employee unions," a top government official told PTI.

The NJCA of central government employees' unions including Railways, Post and Telegraph and Defence had announced an indefinite strike from July 11 against the "unilateral" announcement of the central government on implementation of 7th Pay Commission's awards.

The unions had said the recommended pay hike was the lowest in the last 70 years. They have also accused the government of announcing the awards "unilaterally" without any consultation with them.

Earlier in the day, representatives of various unions met the home minister for deliberations over their concerns after which the government termed the talks as "positive".

Today's was the second meeting the employees' unions had with the government on the issue. Earlier, they had met the Group of Ministers chaired by Singh on June 30. The GoM includes Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.

The Unions had asked the government to set up a committee to look into issues raised by them in relation to the pay scales and other recommendations of the Pay Commission.

"The ministers assured the union leaders that the issues raised by them would be considered by a high level committee," the Finance ministry said in a statement late in the evening.

RSS affiliate Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) and other trade unions have rejected the recommendations, contending that it would increase disparity between the minimum and maximum pay.

Maintaining that the government has "disappointed" the employees, BMS has announced country-wide protests on July 8 against the decision and warned implementation of the 7th pay commission's recommendations may lead to industrial unrest.

(PTI)