Ludhiana: PSPCL staff call 3-day mass leave protest after talks fail
Union leaders said the Wednesday meeting failed to yield any outcome as the management and the minister allegedly adopted an indifferent stance on long-pending demands
After a meeting between the power minister, power corporation management, and representatives of major electricity employee unions ended in a deadlock on Wednesday, electricity workers across the state have announced a mass leave protest from August 11 to 13, threatening to bring power department operations to a standstill.
The protest is being led jointly by several key unions, including the PSEB Employees Joint Forum, Bijli Mulazim Ekta Manch Punjab, Association of Junior Engineers, Grid Sub-Station Employees Union, Powercom/Transco Pensioner Union Etka Punjab, and the Pensioner Welfare Federation (Pehlwan) of Powercom and Transco.
Union leaders said the Wednesday meeting failed to yield any outcome as the management and the minister allegedly adopted an indifferent stance on long-pending demands. These include the release of 13% pending dearness allowance, restoration of the old pension scheme, correction of anomalies in pay and pension revisions, regularisation of contract staff, and recruitment to nearly 50,000 vacant posts.
The unions also alleged that the government is pushing privatisation through covert means while ignoring the plight of employees and pensioners. They cited the non-payment of compensation to families of employees who died during paddy season duties, lack of cashless treatment for injured workers, and arbitrary implementation of central pay scales as pressing concerns.
Agitated by what they called anti-worker and anti-pensioner policies, electricity workers have decided to go on a three-day mass leave across Punjab from August 11 to 13 and hold protest demonstrations outside power offices. Additionally, they will stage protest marches at district headquarters on August 15, coinciding with Independence Day.
