Report of a newspaper in Dehradun
Workers of the three corporations under the Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd. (UJVNL) succeeded in making the state government accept their demands in less than 24 hours when they went on an indefinite strike on 27 July.
About 3500 employees of the three corporations under the Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd. (UJVNL) started an indefinite strike from midnight of July 26 2000. This trike was in response to the call of the Vidyut Adhikari-Karmachari Samyukta Morcha (Joint from of the Electricity Officers and Employees). In the whole of the state of Uttarakhand, the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity was stopped on July 27.
The electricity workers had no option but to strike because the state government has been repeatedly refusing to accept their 14 point Charter of Demands. However this time, seeing the unity of the workers, the government had to bow down within a day. On the evening of July 27 the Energy Minister himself had discussions with the representatives of the Samyukta Morcha. He promised to fulfil all the demands soon. As far as the demand to stop the privatisation of the three corporations goes, the Energy Minister had to say that “No such proposal is under consideration by the administration.”
“Big Breaking News
The government bows down, the strike is over: The government finally bows down before the striking workers of the Urjaa Nigam (Electricity Corporation); the demands will be fulfilled within a month, the strike is over.
Dehradun: The government that had ignored the demands of the 3500 workers of the Urjaa Corporations for four years had to surrender before them within 17 hours of the start of their strike. The 3500 workers of the Urjaa Nigam had gone of strike from midnight under the banner of the Samyukta Sangharsh Morcha with their 14 point Charter of Demands. The electricity system in the state had collapsed due to the strike of these workers and along with the stoppage of production, there were reports of power cut form a number of places.
The Demands of the Workers of Urjaa Nigam:
- The workers of Urjaa Nigam have been asking for restoring the old system of ACP for the last 4 years.
- Regularisation of contract workers.
- Equal pay for equal work.
- Implementation of the bipartite agreement between workers’ organisations and the government on 22nd December 2017.
- Restoration of the old system of 9-5-5 ACP of the Seventh Pay Commission.
- No manipulation of the Pay Matrix of ACP system that had been continuing from the time of Uttar Pradesh.
- Revision of the Incentive Allowance.”