Not calling off strike, just deferring it: Delhi Metro staff

The Secretary of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's (DMRC) Staff Council, Ravi Bhardwaj on Friday stated that the strike called by the DMRC non-executive employees had only been deferred and not called off following the Delhi High Court ruling.

Speaking to ANI, Bhardwaj said that they will continue protesting if their demands were not met.

"We respect High Court's order and will defer the strike but our protest will continue until our demands are met. We'll keep providing services by sporting black bands as a mark of protest. If our demands are not heard, protests will go stronger," said Bhardwaj.

"The executive officers of the DMRC have kept their pay scale in accordance with the pay scale in Schedule A PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings) parallel to the pay scale of the officers of NTPC, BHEL, etc. However, the non-executive employees do not get their pay as much as the other schedule A PSUs. That was our primary concern," he added.

Earlier today, the Delhi High Court restrained the DMRC employees from going on strike tomorrow.

The court mentioned that disputes had arisen with regards to the implementation of settlement terms, which were agreed upon on by the DMRC and the employees in 2017, with the employees claiming that the terms had not been fully implemented by the DMRC.

As per reports, the metro employees were slated to hold protests from June 30, threatening a complete shutdown of metro services.