Ludhiana: CHB workers call off strike after talks, outsourced staff continue agitation

Despite the CHB workers resuming duties, outsourced employees said their agitation would continue until the government translated its assurances into official orders

Bringing partial relief to Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), complaint handling bike (CHB) employees on Tuesday called off their strike and resumed work after a meeting between employee representatives and the corporation’s top management in Chandigarh.

The CHB employees, who had been boycotting work since Saturday afternoon, resumed duties around 3 pm on Tuesday. (HT Photo)

However, outsourced employees posted at Suvidha Kendras, the 1912 national call centre (NCC), consumer response centres (CRC), PESCO and other consumer service wings continued their agitation, saying they would return only after the government issued a formal notification on their long-pending demand for direct employment under PSPCL.

The CHB employees, who had been boycotting work since Saturday afternoon, resumed duties around 3 pm on Tuesday following a meeting of the coordination committee of Punjab Theka Mulazam organisations with PSPCL chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) Basant Garg.

The strike by CHB employees had significantly affected first-level fault rectification and restoration work, particularly in urban areas, as these teams are responsible for attending local electricity complaints, replacing blown fuses and restoring supply after minor faults.

According to employee representatives, the meeting focused on the demands of outsourced employees working in the national call centre (NCC), consumer response centres (CRC), PESCO and other outsourced wings, who have been demanding direct absorption on the PSPCL payroll instead of continuing through contractors.

Union leaders said the management assured them that the notification regarding bringing eligible outsourced employees under direct departmental contracts would be issued, following which offer letters would be released in a phased manner.

The meeting also discussed the pending demands of CHB employees, including issuance of identity cards, pending payments, service-related benefits and other employment issues.

PSPCL CMD Basant Garg said the discussions with employee representatives were positive and expressed hope that the remaining issues would also be resolved soon.

“Our discussions with the employee representatives were constructive. We have assured them that all genuine issues are being addressed in a time-bound manner. With the CHB employees returning to work, we expect fault restoration and consumer services to improve further,” Garg said.

Despite the CHB workers resuming duties, outsourced employees said their agitation would continue until the government translated its assurances into official orders.

Representatives of the outsourced employees said they had received similar assurances in the past, but implementation had been delayed repeatedly. “We will end our agitation only after the notification is issued and the process of bringing eligible employees working in NCC, CRC, PESCO and other outsourced wings under the PSPCL payroll begins. Verbal assurances are no longer enough,” a union representative said.