Union assistant general secretary Venu Nair says that drivers, motormen and guards are made to work for inhumanely long hours at a stretch and denied minimum rest at headquarters and outstations. He said the running staff were being made to work against their conscience, ignoring safety rules under threat of punishments and penal transfers and finally blamed for any untoward incident.

Motormen demanded 10 hours of duty at astretch instead of 14 hours at present. They also want adequate payment for the time they spent for periodical medical examinations and for every time a train is cancelled for administrative failure.

As far as safety rules are concerned, the delegates demanded that urgent steps be taken keeping in mind the increasing number of train accidents. For trains running with air brakes system, the air brake control should be provided to the guard so that he can stop it in case of an emergency. There were demands for an advance warning system in every locomotive, stopping the running of goods train without a brakevan and the inclusion of guard, shunter and driver assistant in Safety Category for purpose of safety awards.