Power employees call off strike after talks with minister, PSPCL management
The employees, under the banners of Bijli Ekta Manch and the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) Joint Forum, had launched their agitation on August 11.
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Initially planned till August 13, the strike was extended to August 15.Power employees in Punjab called off their four-day “tools down, pen down” strike on Thursday evening after two separate rounds of talks with the power minister and the management of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL).
The employees, under the banners of Bijli Ekta Manch and the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) Joint Forum, had launched their agitation on August 11. Initially planned till August 13, the strike was extended to August 15.
The convenor of Bijli Ekta Manch, Gurpreet Singh Gadiwind, said: “Power Minister Harbhajan Singh met five to six union leaders in Chandigarh on Thursday evening, followed by another meeting between the PSPCL management and a larger delegation of union leaders. Afterwards, we decided to call off the strike with immediate effect. Employees were asked to report to duty so that officers deputed in their absence can be relieved.”
Gadiwind said their demands had already been agreed upon in meetings held on June 2 and August 10, but the delay in implementation prompted the strike. “The government has now agreed to increase compensation to ?35 lakh for the family of employees who die of electrocution on duty — up from the ?30 lakh earlier. This is in addition to other benefits of a government employee,” he said.
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