Not paid salaries, PUNBUS staff threaten strike

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, April 10

The Punjab Roadways PUNBUS/PRTC Contract Workers’ Union Punjab on Sunday sought their salaries immediately failing which they threatened to hold a protest on April 12. Union members said like previous governments, the Aam Aadmi Party government also did not want to stop the degeneration in government departments.

They said funds for a free bus service had not been released so far by the government and employees of the department were working on meagre salaries, which were being paid late regularly.

Balwinder Singh Thath, state chairman of the union, said the money meant for free travel facility had not been paid to PUNBUS by the PRTC so far. He said bills of crores of rupees for the past four months were not paid by the state government.

He said due to the lackadaisical attitude of the government, PUNBUS and PRTC employees were working on meagre salaries for a long time. Every month, employees received salaries late. Today being April 10, the government had not money to pay PUNBUS employees’ salary bill of nearly Rs9-10 crore.

State vice-president Daljit Singh Jallewal said the department was not trying to recruit ousted employees to make up for the shortage of staff for the driving new PUNBUS buses. He said rather there was a talk of new recruitments.

They demanded that contractual employees be regularised, dismissed employees be reappointed, salaries be paid in time every month, etc.

They warned the government that the salaries of all PUNBUS contractual employees be immediately deposited into their accounts, and other pending demands be met, failing which they would hold gate rallies at all depot gates on April 12. They said if the government still did not relent, they would close the bus stand and hold protests.

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