Power employees of the state will boycott work on Wednesday as part of a nationwide strike call given by trade unions.
Convener of Power Employees’ Joint Action Committee Shailendra Dube said in Lucknow that 10 central trade unions and several affiliates would join the strike which would affect services across the country. He said that more than 20 crore workers from all sectors, including banking, coal, oil, defence, public sector enterprises and transport, would join the general strike to oppose the government’s “anti-people and anti-worker policies”.
“We will not let the government forget workers’ issues, their jobs and livelihood. In the last six years, a ministerial group created to negotiate with trade unions on workers’ issues has only met them once, in 2015,” Dube said.
“Unemployment is at a 45-year high, farmers’ suicide continue unabated, hiring and firing is the new norm, small businesses are dying, economic growth is down in the dumps and consumer demand is low. Yet, the government is creating a narrative to make us believe that all is well. Workers will show their strength,” said the PEJAC leader.
“Workers’ unions have been making several demands, including Rs 21,000 minimum wage, higher basic pension for all, tripartite discussion on labour reform and a rollback of privatisation of profit-making public sector undertakings. Representatives of unions were invited by the Union Labour Minister for a meeting last week but it remained inconclusive,” Dube said.
“You will see farmers’ outfits, government scheme workers and informal workers’ groups on the streets with the same passion as industrial workers, who will stay away from work to join the protest,” Dube said.
About 60 student organisations and elected office-bearers of some universities have expressed solidarity with the workers and led the convergence of these issues with protests against a rise in fee structure and opposition to commercialisation of education, according to workers’ unions.
Dube further said that UP Power employees would not join the strike but would boycott work. “Employees engaged in thermal power generation stations and at 470kV and 765kV power transmission substations will not join the boycott as they have been exempted from it to prevent grid failure and causing inconvenience to the masses,” he said.
The PEJAC convenor said that power employees were opposing amendment to Indian Electricity Act, which provides for privatisation of power distribution across the country. The other demands of power employees is restoration of old pension scheme and restoration of UP State Electricity Board.
