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Chandigarh: HC stays strike call by PGIMER’s contractual workers
OPD services and elective surgeries at PGIMER were feared to be hit by the strike planned by over 3,000 contractual employees on Friday
A day before the contractual employees at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, planned to go on a one-day strike on Friday, the Punjab and Haryana high court barred them from it.
Out-patient department (OPD) services and elective surgeries were feared to be hit by the strike planned by over 3,000 contractual employees, who have been demanding wages on par with regular employees, as per a high court order.
The contractual staff at PGIMER includes sanitary workers, hospital attendants, medical record clerks and lower-division clerks, among others.
On Thursday, the high court bench of chief justice RS Jha and justice Arun palli acted on a plea by the institute, which sought quashing of the strike notice given by the hospital’s Contract Workers’ Union.
The court was urged to direct the union to immediately withdraw the notice and not indulge in any illegal activity that will hamper the smooth functioning of the institute.
PGIMER counsel Prateek Gupta submitted that the UT chief commissioner had already declared that Section 3 of the East Punjab Essential Services (Maintenance) Act, 1947, was applicable to all employment at PGIMER. Hence, the contractual employees cannot proceed on strike.
The court was informed that even though the demands raised by the union were under active consideration of the authorities, it had still resolved to observe one-day strike.
Acting on the plea, the court issued a notice to the union for March 31 and stayed the operation of the union’s notice as per which a strike call was given. It further restrained the union from proceeding on strike or disrupting/disturbing the functioning of any of the activities of the institute/hospital in any manner.
Earlier in the day, anticipating the strike, PGIMER had decided to suspend its OPD services and elective surgeries on Friday, and not admit any new patients in the in-patient departments. Even the diagnostic labs were going to provide only emergency services.
Soliciting cooperation, the institute had urged that the hospitals in Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh not refer patients to PGIMER on Friday.
“We have still chalked out a contingency plan for optimum functioning of hospital services. No work, no pay rule will be enforced if the staff still goes on strike,” said Dr Vipin Koushal, medical superintendent, PGIMER.
