JANAURY 8: With religion paying them little by way of a monthly income, most of the 26 employees of Haji Ali dargah have turned towards a trade union for succour.The employees of Mumbai's landmark religious monument have enrolled as members of the Lal Bavta Mazdoor Union, affiliated to the Communist Party of India, and have approached the labour court to ensure payment of minimum wages and working conditions as prescribed by law. ``After working here for eight years I am being paid a salary of Rs 1375 per month,'' says Mohammed Ansari, a safaiwallah at the dargah.In their letter to the state government and labour officials, the employees have accused the management of preventing them from going home after each day's work. ``Except for our watchmen we are expected to be on duty for 16 hours a day. Naturally we cannot go home every day,'' says Wasim Khan, an electrician on duty. However, following their union's directives employees have been leaving for home after work for the past few months. ``We get yelled at every day,'' Khan admits.The employees alleged they have been denied various benefits like provident fund and medical allowances mandatory under law. Many of them have put in over 20 years of service and some have died in harness with their families left in the lurch. ``The workers are eligible for minimum wages and benefits like provident fund. The management should have paid them their dues at least on humanitarian grounds,'' says Prakash Reddy, CPI member and leader of the Lal Bavta Mazdoor Union.However, the management insists that since the dargah is a religious organisation they are exempt from labour laws.``The normal labour laws are not applicable to us as we do not earn any money by way of rent. We depend entirely on donations with which we support several charities,'' said Abdul Merchant, the managing trustee of the dargah. According to Merchant's own admission the dargah's employees are not provided any contributory provident fund benefits under the Provident Fund Scheme, though they receive benefits from the Public Provident Fund Scheme.The trust's miserly attitude towards its employees belies the financial status of the organisation. According to Merchant himself, the dargah attracts between two and five thousand devotees each day. ``Our annual revenue is approximately Rs 60 lakh mainly in the form of alms and donations by devotees,'' he says adding that the money is utilised mainly for medical treatment of destitute persons.However, Merchant denied that employees are made to work long hours. ``They are useless workers. First they made me give them a staff room saying that they work late, and now because they stay there, they accuse me of making them work all day,'' he said. Incidentally the dargah does not maintain any attendance register of its employees. ``We never had it in the first place, so we do not see any need for it,'' is how Merchant justifies.With the workforce being entirely Muslim, their affiliation with the Communist Party has become an effective stick to beat them with. ``As devout Muslims they are doing the wrong thing by doing this,'' Merchant warns ominously.
