95 Employees Terminated from Chennai Luxury Clubs for Demanding Proper Pay

Employees of the Gymkhana Club and the Madras Boat Club in Chennai have been suffering without proper income since the COVID-19 lockdown was imposed on March 23, 2020. While the struggle for full payment was underway, both the clubs overnight terminated chunks of employees who had worked for them for many years.

The Gymkhana Club and Boat Club are situated in Chennai’s prime locations and own properties worth several crore rupees. They also collect lakhs of rupees as membership fee.

Madras Gymkhana Club

But, both the clubs cited lack of revenue during the pandemic for delaying the workers’ salaries and terminating huge numbers of the employees.

GOVERNMENT’S HESITATION TO INTERVENE

Boat Club cut down the salaries of workers to 50% and Gymkhana Club to 70% in the beginning of the lockdown. Under the leadership of the Left Trade Union Centre (LTUC), workers of both the clubs took up the issue with the Labour Department and filed a dispute on June 6, 2020. The dispute is still ongoing.

Even after the government lifted the lockdown and provided permission for clubs to resume functioning from September 1, 2020, the club managements refused to pay full salaries to workers. In response to the demand for full payment, Gymkhana Club terminated 56 out of the 149 workers on November 4, and Boat Club followed suit and terminated 39 out of the 76 workers on December 10.

Vinod, a Gymkhana Club trade union office bearer raised the question, “When the government told clubs to close for Corona lockdown, the managements followed it, but when the government asked for reopening with 100% workers why did the clubs not follow that?”

After several months of demanding the Labour Ministry to intervene in the issue, state Labour Minister Nilofer Kafeel finally met with the trade union leaders on December 21, 2020. However, nothing was resolved in the meeting.

RESORTING TO HUNGER STRIKE

Only after two trade union workers - N. James and S. Malliah - sat on hunger strike in January 2021 agitating against the government, did the Labour Ministry interven. After the meeting with trade union leaders on January 12, 2021, the Labour Department accepted the trade union demands and told the clubs to absorb all the workers who were fired. Yet, the clubs did not follow the government’s advice. 

Saravanan, an employee of Boat Club asked, “Are the club managements more powerful than the government? How can they not follow the government advice?”

Following the insensitive club managements’ refusal to abide by the government order, the secretary of LTUC advocate Bharati sat on an indefinite hunger strike on January 27. 

The long pending demands led up to a fiery agitation demanding a meeting with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister in the Assembly on February 4 and submit a memorandum of demands to urge the CM to reinstate the terminated workers and resume full pay. However, the protesting workers were manhandled by the state police, and three of them were injured in the process.

After 14 days of hunger strike and only after the Labour Commission announced that the Labour Secretary would be asked to pass a Government Order under Section 10B of Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, Bharati called off the hunger strike on February 9.

Speaking with NewsClick, he said, “The Labour Department can easily pass a GO and ensure that the workers are absorbed and full pay is provided, but only now they have accepted to do so.”

‘PAY FULL SALARY AND REINSTATE WORKERS’

The workers are awaiting the Government Order from the Labour Department and the club managements to implement the same.

Condemning the insensitive measures by both the luxury clubs, Bharati said, “Some of the richest people of not only Chennai, but whole of Tamil Nadu, are members of the Gymkhana Club and Madras Boat Club and they regularly visit the clubs for their hobbies. These clubs have sufficient deposits yet they are not willing to pay the workers their pending salaries.”

Madras Boat Club

Boat Club and Gymkhana Club are part of the oldest clubs in Chennai. They were established by the British in 1864 and 1884, respectively. They house luxurious sports fields for golf, bowling, polo, rowing, etc. The elite and cream of the society are members of these clubs, including IAS and IPS officers, Ministers of Parliament and industrialists.