UP Power Employees Start Indefinite Strike Over Pay Scales, Appointments

Lucknow: After the meeting between engineers and other employees of UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) and its management failed to reach a consensus following a month of sit-in protest, the staff started an indefinite strike on Tuesday.

The employees, who started the strike under the banner of the Uttar Pradesh Vidyut Karmchari Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti, said that the protest would continue till their demands are met.

Their key demands include time-bound pay scales, the appointment of chairman and MDs strictly as per rules, cashless treatment for all employees and withdrawal of the order for privatisation of transformer workshops. The employees have also demanded the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme and the regularisation of all outsourced workers.

In his address to the protesting employees, All India Power Engineers Federation convener Shailendra Dubey, who is leading the strike in Lucknow, said that the management is “insensitive” to their long-pending and legitimate demands and “wants to suppress their voice by creating an atmosphere of fear among energy corporations”.

“Power engineers and other employees have been protesting for the last two months. We also gave a strike notice to the management on October 27 but it seems they are not interested in our grievances. We have not been invited to any talks so far. This shows their arrogance towards the employees,” Dubey told Newsclick adding that they had repeatedly requested energy minister AK Sharma to intervene.

In a joint statement, Dubey and Samiti leader Jitendra Singh Gurjar said: “Due to the biased, undemocratic, repressive, and malicious attitude of the top management of power corporations, the efficiency and morale of engineers are declining.”

The Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Parishad Abhiyanta Sangh passed a resolution on Sunday condemning the alleged undemocratic, arbitrary, oppressive and negative attitude of the top management. “We had submitted a 15-point charter of demands to the management in October. Despite the fact that most of the demands, like time-bound pay scales, pertain to the UPPCL, the management is showing no interest in resolving the issue,” the statement read.

A torchlight procession across the state was scheduled for 5 pm on Tuesday as a mark of protest. 

In a notice sent to the additional chief secretary of energy seen by Newsclick, the employees said that there is “an atmosphere of fear in the corporations. The arbitrary attitude of the top management has caused financial loss to the power corporations. For these reasons, it was decided to begin an indefinite strike until their demands are met”.