THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Missile firm BrahMos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Ltd (BATL) is embroiled in a spat over holidays. Good Friday this year had turned sour for BATL employees after the management refused to grant them a holiday. Six of the employees stuck to their stand and stayed off work. Result: the management withheld their wages for the day.But now, the Labour Department has come to the rescue of the employees.In a strongly worded letter, the Assistant Labour Officer, Thiruvananthapuram, has directed the BATL administration to pay the day’s wages within seven days.According to the letter dated August 19, of which City Express has a copy, three of the employees are to be paid Rs 852, two of them Rs 708 each and the seventh employee, Rs 783 as wages for April 22, Good Friday. The number of holidays has for long been a contentious issue at the three-year-old BATL. But after the management put its foot down on Good Friday, the BrahMos Staff Association and the BrahMos Employees Union approached the Labour Department saying the management had denied the employees their rightful holidays.According to the Labour Department, it had written to BATL regarding the matter and in their reply, the BATL officials admitted that they had denied wages for the day. The Labour Department has instructed BATL to pay up within seven days and to inform the department of the action taken.BATL has been allowed nine holidays under the Kerala Industrial Establishments (National and Festival Holidays) Act 1958 - Vishu, Good Friday, Ramzan, First Onam, Third Onam, Sree Narayana Guru Samadhi, Vijayadasami, Deepavali and Muharram.
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