‘108’ ambulance workers protest seeking fair pay, festival bonus

Ambulance workers and other labor groups protest for equal pay, festival bonuses, and labor benefits near Collectorate.

Members of ‘108’ Ambulance Workers Union along with other organisations involving Aayush workers and gas cylinder delivery persons protested near the Collectorate here on Saturday demanding equal pay and other labour benefits like festival bonus and salary increments.  

Ambulance workers raised slogans demanding appropriate salary increment and festival bonus to the workers employed by a private organisation named EMRI GHS operating under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreement. 

V. Varadaraj, State president, said, similar to other works, the ambulance workers should also be given only eight hours of work. “Since the private organisation which has hired the workers has not made any talks with the union, steps should be taken to convene a meeting with the union members to decide on the basis at which the salary increment should be given,” he said.  

Similarly, workers at government hospitals employed on contract basis should be extended all basic rights like weekly offs, fixed work hours, festival bonus and others, he said.  

When discussions on the protection of women doctors were being spoken widely across the country, there were no talks on protection of other women health workers like nurses, assistance staff, conservancy workers, etc., he said. 

Aayush workers employed at Primary Healthcare Centre should be given equal monthly salary on a par with their male counterparts, the protesters demanded. “A committee should be formed within their work space to ensure women workers protection from their male higher-ups,” they noted.

Speaking about the plight of gas cylinder deliver persons, they said that those workers were paid on tip basis which would earn them only a few thousand rupees every month. “These payments methods which are against the labour rights should be dropped and payments adhering to the rules should be made for them too,” they said.