Strike called off after govt assurance

Dehradun, October 17

Employees of PITCUL, UPCL and UJVNL (state power undertakings) have called off their stir after the government decided to constitute a committee to look into their demand.

The employees had threatened to go on a strike if their demand for removal of anomalies in the seventh Pay Commission was not met.

On Monday, at a gate meeting the employees had declared their intention to go on a strike.

In view of the proposed strike by the employees of these state government undertakings, the government had evoked ESMA, which seems to have forced the employees to come to the table for talks.

At a meeting held today with the union leaders and senior officials, Secretary, Department of Power, said that a committee had been constituted that will present a proposal within a month to the Department of Finance for resolving the issue. Significantly, the Uttarakhand government had issued an order in September this year for implementation of the seventh Pay Commission recommendations for the employees of the three state government power undertakings. However, the employees were unhappy with the anomalies in the pay scale and demanded immediate resolution.

“The government has not resolved the anomalies in our pay scales,” said AK Mishra, general secretary of Uttaranchal Power Engineers Association. — TNS