PUNE, May 25: The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Transport (PCMT) has decided to convene a meeting of all union leaders in the wake of their demands that the PCMT employees be given work benefits on par with the employees of the parent organisation - the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC).Deputy municipal commissioner R B Konde, who is holding additional charge as General Manager of PCMT told The Indian Express that he has also asked PCMT officers to examine the various agreements reached between the PCMT administration and the workers unions. He directed the officers to find out reasons if some of the demands in the various agreements could not be fulfilled.The Bharatiya Kamgar Sena, in a memorandum addressed to the municipal commissioner, demanded that the PCMT be merged with the municipal corporation as the PCMT employees were not getting their rightful benefits due to the poor financial status of the transport organisation. BKS unit president at the PCMT, Subhash Gosavi stated that the various demands of the PCMT employees regarding allowances, and their other requirements were persistently set aside by the PCMT administration.The BKS union claimed that it refrained from participating in various nationwide and statewide strikes and agitations and had always striven to deliver better services to the commuters. The union said that it was also instrumental in maintaining peace in the organisation. However, because of persistently having had their demands neglected, the employees were in a state of distress. This would invariably hamper the future progress of the PCMT.Gosavi said that just as the PCMC completed all the ancillary works such as building of sheds, bus-stops, cabins and also gave financial assistance to the PCMT for purchase of buses, the expenses incurred by the employees should also be borne by the PCMC.Konde, when contacted, said that he had received memoranda from two other organisations and that he had asked the officers to review the financial status of the PCMT and the likely expenditure of meeting some of the employees' demands.Meanwhile, Konde, who was associated with the PCMT in its formative years, has also directed the officers and depot managers to initiate action against indiscipline and absenteeism of employees.Three employees at the PCMT workshop have been suspended for their failure to carry out the necessary repair works, while similar action was taken against a driver. Konde said that he had focussed his attention on better maintenance of the buses thereby minimizing the incidences of breakdowns.
