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Ludhiana: PSPCL employees proceed on three-day mass leave over demands
Responding to the agitation by employees in Ludhiana, the PSPCL said that their demands will be accepted and warned them of strict action if they went on strike
: Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) regular employees below the sub- divisional officer rank went on a three-day mass leave on Tuesday to press for their demands, including a job and compensation for the kin of the deceased workers.
The workers, initially only linemen, have been protesting for over a month. They had gone on a ‘work to rule’ strike from August 21 to 31. During this strike the workers refused to work more than their 8-hour shift. This strike was extended till September 31. The workers also gheraoed the residence of power minister Harbhajan Singh ETO on September 1. Around 18 workers’ bodies have come together for the agitation.
“We have been sending representations to the minister and higher ups for over a month now. On 31 July we met the minister, and he even accepted our demands in principle. He told us that by 15 August the demands will be officially accepted. However, no such announcement was made,” said additional sub-divisional officer (Sunder Nagar Division), Raghbir Singh, who is the chief organiser secretary, Technical Service Union Punjab, a body leading the agitation.
He added that on August 18 they wrote to the chairman, PSPCL, Baldev Singh Sran, that if their demands were not met, they would go on a strike.
Responding to the agitation, the PSPCL said that the demands of the agitating workers will be accepted and warned them of strict action if they went on strike.
The powercom warned that any employees found absent from work, even for two hours, won’t get the salary for that day. It warned that the absent will be entered on the service book and their promotion will be suspended, and for those who are due for promotion soon will have it cancelled.
