Several unions of railway employees and workers have threatened to stop all train services across the country from May 1 if their demand to implement the Old Pension Scheme is not met, news agency PTI reported on Thursday. The unions have come together under the Joint Forum For Restoration of Old Pension Scheme (JFROPS).
Shiv Gopal Mishra, Convener of JFROPS, said, “The government is completely non-committal to our demand for the restoration of ‘Defined Guarantied Old Pension Scheme' in place of the ‘New Pension Scheme’. Now, there is no alternative left but to resort to direct action,” as quoted by PTI. Mishra is also the General Secretary of the All India Railwaymen's Federation.
He further stated, “Representatives of various federations under JFROPS have jointly consented that we will officially serve a notice to the Railway Ministry on March 19, informing them about the proposed countrywide strike and disruption of all train services from May 1, 2024, i.e., on International Labour Day.”
According to Mishra, several unions of other government employees, who are also part of JFROPS, will also go on strike along with railway workers.
In a press note issued by JFROPS, “All the constituent organisations are therefore requested to take appropriate action and to make all sorts of preparations for serving upon the strike notice to their respective administrations in a befitting manner,” as quoted by PTI.
Mishra said that while the OPS was in the interest of workers, the New Pension Scheme doesn’t take care of their employees' welfare.
In January, the Karnataka government issued a notification to cover about 13,000 state government employees, recruited after 2006, under the Old Pension Scheme. Under the old pension scheme, a government employee is entitled to a monthly pension after retirement. The monthly pension is typically half of the last drawn salary of the person.