Days after the protest by guards at KW Srishti in Rajnagar Extension over non-payment of arrears, the management of the society terminated the services of the security agency, leaving 40 guards unemployed in a day. The security agency — Rockwell Securitas Management Pvt Ltd — was told on Thursday evening that their services were being terminated with immediate effect.
“On Thursday evening, a call came from our head office that the society's management has terminated the contract with our agency and we are out of job,” said 52-year-old Shashi Bhushan, who has been working at the society for more than a year now.
The news came as a jolt to the guards, as many of them had salary arrears for over two months.
Rendered jobless, Naresh Chand, who has not been paid for two months now, lashes out, “I hail from Barabanki, adjacent to Lucknow. Neither can I stay in the city, nor do I have the money to head home. I’m clueless about my future.”
The residents, however, had anticipated such a move by the management.
“Given the ruthless reputation of the builder, the move came as no shock to us. He doesn’t even allow dissatisfied residents to protest, let alone the guards whom he willfully threw out of jobs,” said a resident, on condition of anonymity.
The guards had led a protest this Monday in front of the society gate over non-payment of salaries for over two months. In fact, over 300 residents had come out in their support and joined the protest.
Sanjeev Kumar Bhadana, managing director of Rockwell Securitas, also told City Spidey that the management was furious over the protests led by the guards. “Next day, we received a mail from the management threatening to terminate our services.”
Bhadana alleged that for the last four months, the management had been unnecessarily withholding payments to the agency. “I received the payment of July in October. For how long could I have given salary out of my pockets when I’m not receiving any payments from the client itself,” he said.
The management has also not allowed the guards to serve a month’s notice, a clause specified in their contract, claimed Bhadana. “We can take recourse to labour laws, but our priority is to reemploy these guards first.”
Yesterday evening, Bhadana informed, the management had cleared all the dues.
When City Spidey got in touch with Rajat Sethi, facilities manager of KW Srishti, he said the decision was taken in view of the poor performance of the guards.
