2014-04-23 : Appeal to alumni/alumnae.
(Webmaster's note: Do look at summary and documents collected on the webpage Telephone Operators' case for more information.)
April 23, 2014
Dear fellow alumni/alumnae,
This is to bring to your notice that a gross injustice has occurred to a group of telephone exchange workers inside the campus of our alma-mater. In December 2013 their salary was slashed from Rs. 13294 per month to Rs. 7164 per month.
Having served the wider IIT Kanpur community through their hard work for 12 years and even more (23 years in one case), one day a new contract comes into existence and their salary is cut almost by half for the same work. An utter disregard of loyalty, utter humiliation of dignity, and unwarranted hardship for the families of the workers! Even though the new contract has enough basis to accommodate their previous salaries the new contractor seems callous by denying them the earlier wage level. Our Institute is their Principal employer and the administration has a moral responsibility to ensure that the contractor pays the workers the same wages as they were paid at the time of changing of contract.
It has become very hard for even some of us, relatively better paid citizens, to pay the rising bills in times of high price rise to secure basic needs, food and services. Now imagine a worker family trying to meet its needs with a meager sum of Rs 7164 per month, when just a few months ago the income was at a higher level of Rs 13294 per month!
What do these workers do? They make sure that telephone connections and equipments of all faculty houses, students' hostel offices, academic offices and classrooms, etc, properly function 24/7. By indirectly making their contributions in the lives of students, staffs and faculty, they provide the backbones on which an Institute of national and world repute educates our youths and produces research of high quality. And what did they get in return -- a hostile atmosphere, a 24/7 hanging sword which can axe any of them without giving them any feeling of job security and finally halving their salary! The same workers have fought several struggles in the recent past but it looks like there is no end to their woes. How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?
We believe that our fellow alumni would not let this injustice happen before our eyes. We have already written to IITK Director and hope that other alumni will also join us in striving for a campus where workers duly receive dignified salaries. Many of us have written to the Alumni Association (AA) in support of the cause.
We urge you to raise this issue and reach out to other alumni, campus community and the administration to help rectify the dismal situation these workers have been put into. The contractor should respect the spirit of the contract and pay the workers at least November 2013 level wages.
You may wish to write to the Director expressing your concern (imanna@iitk.ac.in)
You may also wish to write to the Secretary of AA at (venkats@iitk.ac.in)
We will appreciate if you will also copy your letters to us at (citizensforum.at.iitk@gmail.com) . We thank you in advance hoping that you will consider our request.
Sincerely Yours,
On behalf of Citizens Forum