Bombay Parsi Punchayet staff and workmen on mass casual leave - August 21, 2018
Update of August 20, 2018, 8.00 PM
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Mumbai Mazdoor Sabha, general secretary, Dhunji Naterwalla confirmed to Parsiana that the Bombay Parsi Punchayet employees will indeed be taking casual leave en masse tomorrow.
For the last 17 years at least, all staff, especially Parsis were always paid before Parsi New Year. Leave Travel and other allowances are paid during Ganesh Chaturthi.
The union and the trust exchanged communications between 12:45 a.m. and 4.45 p.m., he said.
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August 16, 2018
The Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) staff and workmen "have unanimously decided to observe mass casual leave on Tuesday, August 21, 2018” as a protest against non-payment of bonus "as per last subsisting settlement,” stated Mumbai Mazdoor Sabha, general secretary, Dhunji Naterwalla in a letter to the "Parsi Punchayet Funds and Properties” dated this August 14, 2018. Naterwalla mentioned that all the employees would "for the first time have a plain masoor dal (lentils) lunch on Parsi New Year (August 17) day instead of the… chicken pulav dal and saas ni machhi (fish in white sauce) along with falooda which they do every year. They have also decided to celebrate the New Year without any festive lighting.” He added that "had the management heeded their request for disbursement of bonus as per past practice,” this situation would not have arisen.
Naterwalla added that they would try to mitigate the effects of the one day leave in regard to Doongerwadi. He complained that though the three year wage agreement expired in January 2018, the BPP had not called them for any talks on a new agreement. The office staff is affiliated to a separate union.
Parsiana forwarded Naterwalla’s email to the BPP chairman Yazdi Desai and the six other trustees as well as the BPP chief executive officer (CEO), Cawas Panthaki seeking their response. BPP trustee Noshir Dadrawala replied "I don't think at any point the BPP has said that it will not pay bonus. It's just that we have a liquidity and cash crunch that we soon hope to overcome.
"Naterwala is a reasonable man and we urge him to see the BPP’s books of accounts and ascertain facts for himself.
"In my view, it is not proper to threaten mass casual leave… knowing fully well the sentiments of the community. A modicum of patience and understanding would have been more desirable…
"P.S. I am sorry to hear that some of the staff will be eating masoor dal and pav tomorrow. In solidarity, I have already asked my wife to serve me just that for lunch tomorrow.”
BPP trustee Kersi Randeria phoned to say a proposal mooted by Desai to borrow money against their fixed deposits to pay the bonus was turned down by one of the six trustees. A unanimous decision was required. The fixed deposits earn 9% interest while the loan would have come to 11%, so the BPP would have had to pay 2% more for a month or so, he explained. The trust was expecting income from monthly rents, he added.
Randeria said he would try to talk to the pallbearers to refrain from any drastic agitation on the 21st. As regards renewal of the wage agreement, he asserted that the Punchayet did not have funds and they could not afford to pay the same increment they did last time. Even at that time the agreement had been delayed by a year-and-a-half due to the bickering between the warring camps of the previous board. The present board of seven trustees is also divided into two factions.
Randeria noted he was not in favor of auctioning flats to the highest bidder in order to raise funds. He likened this to selling the family silver to meet expenses.
"Bonus surely has to be given.I am certain that we will find some means to do so.The chairman has to work out the modalities for the disbursement. We are facing a cash crunch and various options are being pursued...I am positive we are unanimous on this issue of giving the bonus though delayed,” wrote trustee Armaity Tirandaz.
Trustee Zarir Bhathena replied that he had been hospitalized for the past three weeks and hence was unable to comment.
The remaining trustees and CEO have not responded to Parsiana’s query to date.
Photo: BPP employees at time of previous agitation over wage agreement renewal