BSNL staff to finalise strike plan today

UNION TROUBLE MAY HINDER PUBLIC SECTOR PLANS

The staff association of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has called a meeting tomorrow to finalise plans for an indefinite strike after a meeting with Communications Minister A Raja on reinstating the GSM tender, which was halved last week at the minister's insistence, proved inconclusive.

An indefinite strike could seriously impact phone services countrywide, except in Delhi and Mumbai where they are provided by state-owned MTNL.

The tender had been provisionally awarded to Swedish firm Ericsson and Norwegian major Nokia earlier this year. This was re-structured last week after Raja, who took charge in June from Dayanidhi Maran, objected to the price at which the tender was awarded.

At its meeting with Raja late Monday, the staff association, which has over 3.2 lakh members, raised three key demands. First, the company should order the entire 45.5 million lines that were part of the original tender instead of only 17 million.

Second, the union said that the third-generation (3G) component of the tender, which had been put in abeyance, should remain. Third, the contract should be expanded by another 50 per cent to 72 million lines.

Union leaders say that Raja only assured the members that a fresh tender for the second phase of the contract would be issued soon, but was unwilling to commit on other aspects of their demand.

Speaking to Business Standard, union leader V A N Namboodiri said, "We will have a meeting tomorrow and as our discussions with the minister have not yielded results, will decide on the future course of action, which will be an indefinite strike, as we had said earlier."

Earlier this month, the staff association had struck work for a day protesting the review of the tender, saying any delay would jeopardise the position of BSNL which has been losing market share in the mobile space to the private sector.

The union had postponed a full blown strike but with an ultimatum that they would wait for a fortnight to look at the actions taken by the government on the contract.

Also Read:

BSNL gives in to Raja, halves GSM tender

Stop move to destroy BSNL, Maran tells PM

BSNL strike: No solution