Delhi Metro employees to revive their protests from 10 July

Employees of the Delhi Metro have said that they will revive their protests if their demands are not met by 9 July. The Delhi Metro Rail Employees’ Union, which had been protesting for the last few months, threatened to go on strike from Saturday, but was forced to withdraw their strike after the Delhi High Court came down heavily on them on Friday.

Ravi Bharadwaj, General Secretary, Delhi Metro Rail Employees’ Union, told The Sunday Guardian, “We have postponed our strike for now. We are preparing to reply to the stay order of the Delhi High Court. We will launch our protest again if our demands are not met by 9 July.” The strike could affect the functioning of the Metro system in Delhi that transports over 27 lakh passengers in the national capital.

Metro employees have been demanding that the Delhi Metro Rail Employees’ Union be recognised by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and the agreements between the DMRC management and the DMRC staff council be implemented.

The employees are also asking for the revision of the pay scale and implementation of the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, along with drafting clear rules for removal of any Metro employees by the management.

DMRC officials have said that they are in talks with the employees and would not like to further comment on the matter right now, since the matter has become sub-judice.

About 9,000 employees of the Delhi Metro, including employees from the operations and maintenance verticals, have been protesting, while several members were also on hunger strike since 25 June.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, as well as Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, had appealed on Friday to take back the strike threatened by Metro employees. The Delhi High Court on Friday further gave an interim relief to the DMRC.