Demanding a hike in wages and other facilities, family members along with their children of workers of Tata Marcopolo staged a protest in Dharwad on Monday.

Participating in thedemonstration in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad, the protesting family members aired their grievances and said that the company had not revised their salaries for the last 21 months.

They also submitted a memorandum addressed to the Deputy Commissioner in which they have mentioned that over 1,200 workers have been associated with the company for the last 13 years. While their wages havenot been revised for the last 21 months, that of the senior officials has been increased.

They have said that their charter of demands has been rejected by the company. Due to rise in the prices of essential commodities, the steep increase in school fees and also house rent, the workers are unable to manage their families and it has become difficult to manage things with the ₹22,000 salary being paid to them, they said.

Amid the pandemic, the workers have strived to bring profits to the company helping it to manufacture 600 hi-tech ambulances meant for the Defence Ministry and also 6,000 LMVs for the Andhra Pradesh Government for distribution of ration. Despite the risk taken by the workers during the pandemic, no steps have been taken to recognise their sacrifice and even the basic demands of wage revision have not been met, they said in the memorandum.

The protesting family members also said that sub-standard food is being supplied in the company canteen. As no remedial measures have been taken, the workers stopped eating at the company canteen over a fortnight ago, they said. The protestors urged the Labour Department to intervene and sort out the issue and protect the interest of the workers.