More than 15,000 contract workers of the public sector power utilities have resolved to go on strike from the early hours of Tuesday demanding that the third party contract system be scrapped and other long-pending grievances redressed without further delay.
The decision to abstain from work was taken in the meeting of contract workers from 13 districts held on Monday after the government invited A.P Electricity Contract Employees’ Joint Action Committee (JAC) for talks on Dec 23 instead of giving concrete assurances on their demands.
In Monday’s meeting organised at Gymkhana grounds in the city, JAC leaders said that contract workers have been protesting against the government’s indifference to the service-related issues raised by them for quite some time but they have so far got promises but not action.
JAC Chairman K.N.V. Sitaram and Convener P. Kasi Madhu Babu said 15,000-plus workers have been toiling in the AP-Genco, AP-Transco and DISCOMs for the last 18 years and it was high time that they are recognised as ‘department employees’ and got parity of wages. The government should also abolish the third party contract system and utilise the crores of rupees paid to the contractors as supervisory charges, for the welfare of workers.
“We staged protests in a phased manner across the State but the government has apparently not taken our grievances seriously. We are not ready to be duped once more in the name of negotiations,” Mr. Sitaram added.
