A section of employees of public sector general insurance companies has given a call to go on strike on January 4 against the proposed restructuring in the state-run insurers.
The Joint Forum of Trade Unions (JFTU) of general insurance companies alleged that the proposed restructuring would weaken the public sector entities.
The proposed restructuring involves the closure and merger of offices, including profitable offices, and imposition of Key Performance Indicator (KPI), the JFTU said in a statement.
The JFTU said that in the last couple of years about 1,000 offices, mostly in Tier II and Tier III cities, have already been closed.
This unilaterally forcing massive closures and mergers of hundreds of offices in public sector general insurance companies (PSGIC) are not only affecting the policyholders but the citizens at large, it said, adding that it is also giving undue favour to private insurance companies to capture the market in Tier II and III cities.
Four insurers, National insurance Company Ltd, Oriental Insurance Company Ltd, New India Assurance Company Ltd, United India Insurance Company Ltd and GIC Re, having around 50,000 employees and officers are forced to observe a one-day strike on January 4, it said.
"We learnt that Joint Secretary Saurabh Mishra has been pressuring the board of the National Insurance as per his whims and fancies and also pressurised the board for recruiting a Chief Technical Officer in the past to favour his near and dear for a huge package," it alleged.
The Chief Labour Commissioner has called a conciliation meeting on January 2 to resolve the issue and avoid the strike.
