Contractual employees of state-owned Punjab Roadways on Friday announced a three-day strike from August 3 to 5 to pressure the state government to address their long-pending demands, including regularization of their services.
The Punjab and Punjab Road Contracting Workers Union and the PRTC have criticized the AAP government, accusing it of failing to accept their demands despite discussing them in about 70 meetings over the past four years.
The union said rallies will be organized at all warehouses across the state on July 27 ahead of the statewide strike.
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They also threatened to hold a ‘dharna’ outside Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s residence if their demands are not met.
Speaking to reporters here, union president Resham Singh Gill said that the AAP had promised before coming to power to organize contractual employees, abolish the contract system and ensure full salaries, but failed to fulfill any of these commitments.
He further said that though a sub-committee was formed soon after the AAP government came to power to resolve their issues, it could not come to any conclusion even after four years.
Gill also accused the government of promoting privatization through the kilometer scheme instead of strengthening the state-owned transport fleet.
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Union general secretary Shamsher Singh Dhillon and vice-president Harkesh Kumar Vicke claimed that nearly 400 regular buses and around 35 Volvo buses owned by the administration remained off the roads due to non-availability of spare parts, tires and batteries, while preference was given to private buses plying under the kilometer scheme.
Union leaders also claimed that about 800 government buses have become unserviceable during the current government’s term, and that no new buses have been added to the fleet yet, although the government has announced plans to purchase 696 buses.
They said the government requested 10 days during the June 24 meeting to prepare a draft policy to regulate transport employees and resolve other outstanding demands, but failed to act.
