VASCO
Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) affiliated workers union, Goa Port and Dock Employees Union (GPADEU) on Tuesday afternoon said that the union has got a stay from the High Court on the recent MPT circular freezing Dearness Allowance (DA) for employees.
Speaking to the media, GPADEU President Laxmikant Gaude said that the Union had approached the High Court for relief on the circular.
“We filed a writ petition in the High Court on 29th January against the circular and today we have received a stay on the circular and interim relief on the issue. The port management will now have to give the employees the DA and will benefit around 1,400 employees and 4,400 pensioners. The High Court also questioned the MPT advocate how they issued the circular when the courts of Karnataka, Maharashtra and other states had already given a stay on the circular but the advocate said that the jurisdiction of those courts was applicable only to those states and not applicable to Goa,” said Gaude.
“The ministry of heavy industries had issued a memorandum and based on the memorandum the shipping ministry issued a circular and subsequently based on these two circulars, MPT had issued a circular to freeze the DA of the employees and pensioners,” said Gaude.
“We all know that the shipping ministry earlier had issued a circular that activities in the port like loading, unloading and transport was categorised as essential service and that the port can never come to a standstill and subsequently all the employees had worked risking their lives and that of their families during Covid pandemic and hence it is our dutiful right to get the DA,” said Gaude.
