WREU celebrates successful completion of 💯 years
शताब्दी समारोह के सौभाग्यशाली गवाह बनकर मंच पर उपस्थित वेस्टर्न रेलवे एम्प्लॉईज़ यूनियन के महामंत्री कॉम. जे. आर. भोसले और नेशनल रेलवे मजदूर यूनियन, मध्य रेलवे/कोंकण रेलवे के महामंत्री कॉम. वेणु पी. नायर एवं अन्य पदाधिकारीगण
Western Railway Employees Union (WREU), earlier known as BB&CI Railway Employees’ Union is celebrated its successful completion of 💯 years on 1st August 2020. WREU was established on 1st August1920 with Rai Saheb Chandrika Prasad as President and Bhukan Das Master as General Secretary, when formation of trade union was not permitted in India.
Western Railway Employees Union’s centenary celebrations | 01.08.2020
https://youtu.be/BFtfkzguTCI
Its office was Berryl House, presently known as Lakshmi Niwas, in front of Lower Parel Workshop area. Bhukan Das Master and F. J. Jinwala were General Secretaries of the Union for a short period. S.H. Jhabwala, a leading Advocate and a social worker, was General Secretary for 9 years.
The union was recognized by BB&CI Railway administration in the year 1928. This was the first union to encourage youth and women in union activities and form Youth and Women Wing, and also to build cadre through workers’ education.
WREU had a very valuable contribution in formation of AITUC in 1920, AIRF in 1924 and Hind Mazdoor Sabha in 1948. After independence, Western Railway was formed on 05.11.1951 by merging BB&CI Railway, Mewar State Railway, Jaipur State Railway, Rajputana-Malwa State Railway, Gaikwad of Baroda State Railway and all small State Railways in Saurashtra.
Trade Unions existing in these State Railways thereafter merged together and formed Western Railway Employees’ Union with same registration No.5 of 31.10.1927 with Kum. Maniben Kara as President and G. B. Sukhi as General Secretary.
WREU is a free, independent, democratic trade union, affiliated to All India Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF) and Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS).
The Union was led by many eminent leaders such as Rai Saheb Chandrika Prasad, Jamnadas Mehta, Padmashri Maniben Kara, Jagdish Ajmera, Umraomal Purohit.
During the last 100 years, WREU served strike notice for 15 times for various demands, but due to negotiated settlements strike took place only 6 times.
This Union is an affiliate of AIRF, which was led by many prominent trade union leaders such as Padmashri Maniben Kara, Jamnadas Mehta, V. V. Giri, Jayaprakash Narayan, Peter Alvares, George Fernandes, Priya Gupta, J. P. Chaubey, Umraomal Purohit.
WREU is presently led successfully by R. C. Sharma as President and J. R. Bhosale as General Secretary.
During the past 100 years, WREU achieved many benefits for the railway employees through struggle.
During the 1960 Strike, their 5 comrades of Dahod Workshop became martyrs in police firing.
Some of the important achievements of the union are:
- No retrenchment despite use of advanced technology such as Gauge conversion, Change of Traction from Steam to Diesel and Diesel to Electric, etc.
- Introduction of standard pay scales and fixed working hours
- Payment of Overtime Allowance and Travelling Allowance
- Improvement in working conditions in regard to safety of the staff
- Payment of Dearness Allowance by 100% utilization of Consumer Price Index
- Payment of Productivity Linked Bonus
- Improvement in pay scales of 3.5 Lakh Artisan staff
- Improvement in pay scales of Open Line and Workshop staff of all categories
- Casual Leave to Workshop staff
- Group Insurance Scheme
- Railway Employees’ Liberalized Health Scheme (RELHS-1997) including spouse and dependent children by payment of last drawn salary at the time of retirement or thereafter
- Recruitment of more than 10,000 Course Completed Act Apprentices
- Recruitment of more than 5000 wards of railway employees working in safety categories under Liberalized Active Retirement Scheme for Guaranteed Employment for Safety Staff (LARSGESS)
- Introduction of Pension w.e.f 01.04.1957; family pension from 01.04.1964
- Dearness Relief on pension since 1972
- Revision of pension and family pension w.e.f. 01.01.1986, 01.01.1996, 01.01.2006 and 01.01.2016
- Family pension to widowed, divorced and unmarried daughters and differently abled sons & daughters
- Improvement in pay scales by successive 7 Central Pay Commissions
- Encashment of earned leave during service and also at the time of retirement
- Enhancement in payment of Gratuity
- Paternity leave
- Child Care Leave and increase in maternity leave; etc.
Unions’ fighting is continued for following demands:
- Stopping privatization of railways
- Payment of DA and DR from 01.01.2020
- Abolition of NPS
- Introduction of multi-skilling and merger of cadres
- Implementation of Cadre Restructuring of Track Maintainers without matching saving
- Payment of Exgratia of Rs.25,00,000 to the families of employees died in harness
- Creation of posts against New Assets and timely recruitments and promotions
- Continue all the existing provisions while updating IREC, IREM and IRMM
- Stop retrograde amendments in Labour Laws; and other pending demands.
During the last 100 years, the Union has dealt with 10 agents & General Managers of BB&CI Railway and 59 General Managers of Western Railway.
During these years, the Union has also dealt with more than 15 Prime Ministers of India, belonging to different political parties after formation of Indian Railways.
“The Union was formed with the objective to fight for improvement in the working and financial conditions of railway employees and we are satisfied that we could achieve it to great extant”, said Com. J. R. Bhosle, General Secretary of the union.
Presently union is extending help to railway employee right from recruitment till his entire life by conducting pre-recruitment classes, pre-promotional classes, special study classes for candidates appearing in RRC and RRB Examination and helping pensioners and family pensioners in solving their grievances by forming a separate wing called Pensioners’ Wing.
The Union is also conducting many non-bargaining activities such as various Awareness Camps, Blood Donation Camps, Medical Check-up Camps and their cadre are always in the forefront in helping those affected in natural calamities such as earthquake, flood, draught, etc.
Recently, to tide over Covid-19 pandemic situation, union have contributed a sum of Rs.25 Lakh to CM’s Relief Fund through Ajit Pawar, Dy. Chief Minister of Maharashtra on 11.06.2020 and a sum of Rs.52 Lakh to PM CARES Fund through Piyush Goyal, Minister for Railways, on 19.06.2020.
On the occasion of completing 💯 yrs, WREU conducted Online meeting in Zoom App on 1st August 2020 through Video Conference, which was broadcasted live on You Tube channel. Sharadchandra Pawar, President, Nationalist Congress Party, former Defence & Agricultural Minister, Government of India & former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, inaugurated the conference. In his inaugural speech, he highly appreciated the successful work done by the Union for long 100 years and hope the Union will continue the same for many more years.
Piyush Goyal, Minister for Railways speaking on the occasion of 💯 years of WREU
Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways, Anand Khati, DG-HR, Railway Board, Alok Kansal, General Manager, Western Railway, Sanjeev Mittal, General Manager, Central Railway, Alok Kumar, AGM, Western Railway, B. K. Dadabhoy, AGM, Central Railway and Principal Chief Personnel Officers of Western and Central Railways blessed the occasion and appreciated the services done by the Union for all these years.
Rakhal Dasgupta, President, AIRF, Shiva Gopal Mishra, General Secretary, AIRF, Rajasridhar, President/HMS, Harbhajan Singh Sidhu, General Secretary, HMS, Smt. Amarjeet Kaur, General Secretary, AITUC, Venu P. Nair, General Secretary, NRMU/KRCL, have also spoke on this occasion and appreciated the role of WREU.
Shiva Gopal Mishra, GS/AIRF speaking on the occasion of 💯 years of WREU
Sister Sheron Burrow, General Secretary, ITUC, Shoya Yoshida, General Secretary, ITUC (AP), Smt. Maria Helena Andre, on behalf of Mr. Guy Rider, Director-General, ILO Geneva, Mr. Sayed Sultan Uddin Ahmeed, ILO DWT, South Asia, Stephen Cotton, General Secretary, International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), Abul Gani Serang, General Secretary, NUSI & E.B. Member, ITF, have also blessed the function through their video messages and all have appreciated the role of Western Railway Employees’ Union for protecting Indian Railway System from privatization.
Important leaders of Central Trade Unions and General Secretaries of HMS Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu also appreciated work done by WREU.
WREU activists have celebrated this occasion all over Western Railway by lighting and decorating WREU offices at their respective areas and attended the video conference from their area either through Zoom App (more than 200 delegates) and or You Tube (more than 6500).