Railway employees to go on indefinite strike from 11 July

Mumbai, June 10 (KNN) The Railway Employees have decided to go on indefinite strike from 11 July 6 am onwards as with two of its biggest unions serving a formal notice to the railway authorities about the strike.

Functionaries of the Congress-backed National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR) and the Communist-backed All-India Railwaymen's Federation (AIRF) have cited the inadequacies of the 7th Pay Commission as the reason for the strike call.

In a statement released by the WRMS said that the cabinet secretary was in talks with both the NFIR and the AIRF and in case a negotiated settlement fails, railway employees would stop the movement of trains from 6 am on July 11.

As per the charter of the demands, the release said the unions wanted settlement of the issues raised by the NJCA on the recommendations of the 7^th pay commission sent to Cabinet Secretary vide letter dated 10th December 2015,

According to union functionaries, a railway strike could see a daily loss to the exchequer of around Rs2,500 crore. The cascading effect of the strike would led to rise in prices of essential items like foodgrains, milk and other perishables. It could also plunge some parts of the country into darkness as the railways are the primary transporter of coal to power plants nationwide. About 36% of all the freight in the country is carried by the railways. (KNN Bureau)