Day 1 of contractual employees’ strike throws bus services out of gear in Punjab
Punjab Roadways and PRTC Contractual Employees Union calls for closing bus stands for two hours on Wednesday
Bus services were thrown out of gear on Tuesday, the first day of three-day strike of contractual employees of state transport undertakings, including Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC), Punjab Roadways and PUNBUS.
Commuters were a harried lot as all bus stands were crowded with people trying to find alternative means to reach their destinations. Private taxis did brisk business in the bargain.
Also read: Passengers bear brunt of roadways, PRTC union strike
Nearly 8,200 contract and outsourced employees struck work, seeking regularisation of jobs. Besides regularisation, the employees are demanding the implementation of 5% increase annually in their remuneration and an end to the practice of hiring staff through outsourcing.
According to reports, 90% of buses of these fleets remained off the road.
The state transport department directed managements of state transport undertakings to deploy regular staff, including those on desk jobs, on field duty.
Harkesh Singh Vicky, the vice-president of the Roadways/PRTC Contractual Employees Union, said the strike was called as meetings with the state transport minister and officials had failed to yield any result. “Successive governments have been making excuses despite promising to regularise services in 2017 and 2022,” he said, adding that the union will shut bus stands for two hours on Wednesday, restricting the entry and exit of all buses, besides taking out a protest march to chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s residence in Chandigarh on Thursday.
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