VALPOI
Tension prevailed at the Automobile Corporation of Goa Ltd unit at Bhuimpal-Sattari, after 32 contract drivers were allegedly laid off by the contractor and replaced by other staff.
While the retrenched drivers blamed the company for ignoring their plight, a company official, however, clarified that the matter did not involve the management as the work was outsourced to a contractor.
The ACGL has been building buses since the last three decades and the agitating drivers claimed that the previous contractor had efficiently managed the system for nearly two decades. They complained that the new contractor has been discriminating against the local workforce and eventually replaced them with non-Goan workers.
"For over 18 years, we have been working diligently with no complaints from anyone, but the contractor laid us off for no reason. When we asked him the reason for stopping our services, he replied that there was insufficient work for the staff, but this is not true," said one retrenched worker, Prashant Kavthankar.
Daud Shaikh, an another senior worker, added: "Since the last three months, we have been without work and the company should look into this matter as this is injustice.'
Another worker, Rafiq Naik Pariswadi, said they would submit a memorandum to the company official regarding their issue.
When contacted, a company official told The Goan on condition of anonymity that the issue did not involve the management as the work had been outsourced to a contractor. "As such, we have no role to play in this situation," the official said.
Tension prevailed at the Automobile Corporation of Goa Ltd unit at Bhuimpal-Sattari, after 32 contract drivers were allegedly laid off by the contractor and replaced by other staff.
While the retrenched drivers blamed the company for ignoring their plight, a company official, however, clarified that the matter did not involve the management as the work was outsourced to a contractor.
The ACGL has been building buses since the last three decades and the agitating drivers claimed that the previous contractor had efficiently managed the system for nearly two decades. They complained that the new contractor has been discriminating against the local workforce and eventually replaced them with non-Goan workers.
"For over 18 years, we have been working diligently with no complaints from anyone, but the contractor laid us off for no reason. When we asked him the reason for stopping our services, he replied that there was insufficient work for the staff, but this is not true," said one retrenched worker, Prashant Kavthankar.
Daud Shaikh, an another senior worker, added: "Since the last three months, we have been without work and the company should look into this matter as this is injustice.'
Another worker, Rafiq Naik Pariswadi, said they would submit a memorandum to the company official regarding their issue.
When contacted, a company official told The Goan on condition of anonymity that the issue did not involve the management as the work had been outsourced to a contractor. "As such, we have no role to play in this situation," the official said.
