Railway Union election

Railway union elections begin

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
Ludhiana, April 24, 2013

The elections of the Railway Employees Union would start from Thursday onwards across the country. The railway employees would cast their votes on April 25, 26 and 27.
A total of six unions, including Northern Railway Men's Union, Uttariya Railway Mazdoor Union, Northern Railway Employees Congress, Northern Railway Employees Union, Uttar Railway Karamchari Union and Rail Mazdoor Union, are participating in the elections.

Earlier, the Northern Railway Men's Union had won the elections and got affiliation for five years.
According to the employees, the main contest would be between Uttariya Railway Mazdoor Union (URMU) and Northern Railway Men's Union (NRMU). However, both the unions are claiming that they are always working to protect the rights of employees.
URMU assistant general secretary Bhajnik Singh Toor said they were conducting rallies for making the campaign successful. Pamphlets were being distributed to people through door to door campaigning, he added. He said besides this some members from Delhi were using social networking sites for campaigning.
He said URMU was opposing the privatisation of railway. The employee recruitment should be conducted on the basis of qualification, he added. He said they were demanding to fill the 1,50,000 vacancies which were lying vacant in northern railways. If the union gets affiliation then it would work towards improving the condition of railway hospitals, he added.
The Northern Railway Men's Union is also opposing the privatisation of railway. Earlier on Tuesday, NRMU divisional secretary Daljit Singh, said they were committed to implement voluntry retirement scheme.
Dinesh, a railway employee, said all unions were campaigning at a fast pace adding that he would cast his vote for the union which assures to protect their rights. He said that the conditions of hospitals should be improved so that the railway employees should get better facilities. The main contenders for the elections would be NRMU and URMU, he added.