Title - Labour unions bring metro work to a standstill

Demand to employ more labour union members at work sites

With precisely 1,000 days left for Kochi Metro to be commissioned, interference by regional construction unions brought the metro’s piling works to a standstill at Kaloor on Tuesday. Early in the day, union workers reportedly obstructed works at the casting site in Cheranalloor. With materials for piling not arriving from the site, the sub-contractor had to stop piling at Kaloor.Though trade union leaders say that they are open to the work resuming on Wednesday, sources associated with metro expressed annoyance at constant obstruction of work by trade unions. “Works will resume only after a permanent solution is found, since we will not brook undue interference from unions,” they said.Speaking to The Hindu , Minister for Transport Aryadan Mohammed said that he had taken up the issue with CITU’s State general secretary Elamaram Karim. “He has promised all help to end the impasse.”The deadlock arose after the sub-contractor refused to yield to the demand to raise the number of union workers from 10 to 22 at the casting site. With each worker being paid over Rs 700 for a 12-hour shift this would set a bad precedent and also increase the project cost, sources said. Moreover, work sites have sufficient number of skilled workers trained by contracting firms and modern machinery is in place to do most of the work. “We do not need excess workers since they do not have much work to do. Moreover, they set a bad example for trained workers who are willing to put in hard work,” they said.