Hubballi: Nearly 33,000 South Western Railway employees will not report to duty from July 11 in response to an indefinite strike call given by the National Joint Council of Action (NJCA) to press for the various demands of Union government employees.

Addressing presspersons, along with zonal president of SWR Mazdoor Union R.R. Naik, here on Tuesday, zonal general secretary and convenor of NJCA A.M. D’Cruz said that the strike had become inevitable because of the apathy of the Union government to the demands of its employees, including Railway staff.

Mr. D’Cruz alleged that instead of negotiating with employees who were forced to go on indefinite strike after having exhausted every other method to air their grievances, the Union government was trying to use coercive methods to prevent the employees from participating in the strike. He said that although the NJCA had waited three months following an assurance by the Union Cabinet Secretary that the Union government would examine a report of the committee of secretaries constituted to examine the report of the Seventh Pay Commission, nothing had been done till date.

Regarding the proposed move by the Union government to give a 23.5 per cent hike as per the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission, Mr. D’Cruz said that the NJCA had sought reconsideration of the Pay Commission recommendations and would not accept anything less than a 26 per cent hike.

He said that the NJCA had submitted a charter of demands consisting of 36 demands, including scrapping of the National Pension Scheme in favour of the old Pension Scheme, filling vacancies and stopping amendments to Labour Laws.