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Journalism of Courage
PATIALA, July 8: The Punjab State Electricity Board PSEB Employees Struggle Committee has announced that black-flag demonstrations would be organised whenever the board chairman or members went to the field from August 1 onwards. It has also declared that more than one lakh workers of the Board would observe a strike on August 19 if the committee demands were not accepted by then.
This was announced at a massive demonstration organised by the struggle committee in front of the Board head office here today.
While addressing the demonstration H.S. Minhas, Mukhwant Singh Sidhu, both conveners, Surinder Singh, Joginder Singh Jindu, Mohinder Singh, co-conveners, accused the PSEB management of repeatedly back-tracking from the agreements signed with the struggle committee.
While implementing the report of the Wage Formulation Committee, the Board management had distorted many agreed formulas and principles. They said it was agreed to revise the pay scales of work-charged staff simultaneously with the regular staff, but the pay scales of work-charged staff had not been revised yet. PSEB management has not given the promotional scales already granted to PSEB employees after January 1, 1996. The management had withdrawn the house rent allowance within 8 km radius of cities already permissible to Board employees.
They alleged that the Board has withheld the payment of arrears of wage revision due to financial crunch depriving the employees of whatever benefit they were entitled to. No meeting of the Wage Formulation Committee had been convened for the last more than two months. Only one meeting was fixed which was also postposed without assigning any reason and without fixing any further date. No new post has been created inspite of repeated written commitments to create posts as per work load norms. There was large-scale transfers and victimisation of trade union workers and leaders at the instance of ministers of Punjab government, they alleged. The Board was implementing a two-tier system in other circles, which had miserably failed in Ludhiana Circle, the leaders pointed out.
The management, instead of making efforts to improve the system of the Board, had chosen the path of privatisation of generation projects by making agreements with multinational firms. The civil and transmission works which can could be executed departmentally, were being done through contract system, the struggle committee leaders said.
PSEB Employees Struggle Committee warned the management that if the genuine demands of employees were not settled through bilateral discussions and meetings, the agitation will be intensified further.
The rally was also addressed beside others by Amarjit Singh Sodhi, Gurnam Singh Gill and Manjit Singh Chahal.
