OFAJ workers protest against stoppage of overtime payment

Nagpur: Workers of Ordnance Factory Ambajhari (OFAJ), affiliated to All India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF), a left-leaning union, held a daylong protest against the management over its decision to stop overtime payment, and increasing the number of contract workers.OFAJ is the flagship unit of Yantra India Limited (YIL), one of the seven defence PSUs formed out of the ordnance factories in 2021. It is engaged in the making of hardware for a whole gamut of shells as well as rockets.The work was, however, not disrupted as the protests were only symbolic with participation of select workers. The union, however, plans to intensify the agitation if the demands are not met, said the leaders.Earlier, permanent workers putting in additional hours used to get overtime of around Rs12,000 a month. The system was discontinued after corporatisation, said Ashish Pachgare of AIDEF. The number of contract workers has also increased to nearly half of the total strength.Earlier, only unskilled jobs were handed over to the contract workers. Now, even key machinery is operated by them, Pachghare said. After becoming a PSU, Yantra has to maintain financial viability, for which the number of contract workers has been increased and overtime discontinued, said the workers.