<p>While the United Forum of BSNL Unions has called a 48-hour strike for August 19 and 20, the All India Graduate Telecom Officers’ Association, having over 10,000 members, began an indefinite strike on Tuesday morning.<br /><br />The United Forum of BSNL Unions, which includes seven BSNL unions with 1.5 lakh non-executive employees, will begin the strike on August 18 midnight. The strike is likely to impact customer services. It may also affect the operations of the state-owned telecom firm as most of the striking engineers are heading technical teams of different circles. The BSNL has set up a control room to ensure smooth operations.<br /><br />“Top executives like CMD and directors have taken a pay hike of 50-70 per cent, while the BSNL management has offered only 30 per cent pay-hike to non-executives. We are also demanding a five-year periodic wage revision with full benefits,” BSNL Employees’ Union General Secretary V A N Namboodiri told reporters here.<br /><br />The BSNL has currently 18.12 per cent market share in the mobile category, and in the landline category the company is leading with 77 per cent. The efforts to list the firm in the bourses to infuse funds was stalled due to opposition from the employees’ union.</p>
<p>While the United Forum of BSNL Unions has called a 48-hour strike for August 19 and 20, the All India Graduate Telecom Officers’ Association, having over 10,000 members, began an indefinite strike on Tuesday morning.<br /><br />The United Forum of BSNL Unions, which includes seven BSNL unions with 1.5 lakh non-executive employees, will begin the strike on August 18 midnight. The strike is likely to impact customer services. It may also affect the operations of the state-owned telecom firm as most of the striking engineers are heading technical teams of different circles. The BSNL has set up a control room to ensure smooth operations.<br /><br />“Top executives like CMD and directors have taken a pay hike of 50-70 per cent, while the BSNL management has offered only 30 per cent pay-hike to non-executives. We are also demanding a five-year periodic wage revision with full benefits,” BSNL Employees’ Union General Secretary V A N Namboodiri told reporters here.<br /><br />The BSNL has currently 18.12 per cent market share in the mobile category, and in the landline category the company is leading with 77 per cent. The efforts to list the firm in the bourses to infuse funds was stalled due to opposition from the employees’ union.</p>
