VASCO
Hitting out at non-members claiming to be barge workers for levelling allegations against the union committee, the United Bargemen’s Association (UBA) on Thursday claimed that a union is never responsible for giving anyone a job.
Speaking to media persons, UBA leader Nivrutti Cuncolienkar refuted the allegations against the union.
"The role of a union comes only in case of disputes regarding salaries or any other violations and a union is never responsible for giving anyone a job. We take up the case of our members through proper channel with the labour commissioner and resolve it and we have nothing to do regarding any sort of employment,” said Cuncolienkar.
“There is a lot of misunderstanding in this industry and we want to inform that there are almost 90 percent Goans on barges. We cannot go against the Indian Constitution which allows anyone to work anywhere in the country,” said Cuncolienkar.
"One person making the allegations is not even our member and he must prove his allegations. We have made sincere efforts to help our Goan barge workers. One company has 35 barges, of which 17 barges are operating as of now with 100 percent Goan crew.”
“The company has given some barges on contract to some private parties who are hiring non-Goans through labour contractors and the union is not responsible for that," said Cuncolienkar.
Cuncolienkar clarified that the UBA’s role is only limited to finalising freight charges and finalising a scale of rate for workers.
"We can't do much if non-Goans are willing to work at a much lower salary or for the sake of sailing experience, but we can only wait for the crew to approach us in case of disputes. We are trying our best for safeguarding the interest of barge workers," said Cuncolienkar.
