CHANDIGARH

                                                   Transport Workers Observe Strike, Stage Dharna

ON July 19, thousands of transport workers of the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking observed a two hours long strike in support of their demands. These are as below.

1. Long pending overtime wages must be paid immediately and the account head disclosed.
2. The fund of Rs 45 crore, which was given to purchase new buses, must be utilised in purchasing new buses that have engine in front side as the buses having engine on back consume more diesel.
3. Vacant posts of all the categories, i.e. drivers, conductors, workshops employees, management staff and class IV staff, must be filled at the earliest.
4. A procurement committee must be formed for procurement of spare parts in which a lot of money is embezzled. Without the availability of spare parts, Mini AC and HVAC buses are lying parked in the workshop for the last eight to nine months.
5. Discrepancies in the fixation of pay scales of employees and workers of Chandigarh Transport Undertaking must be removed.
6. Illegal recoveries from the drivers must stop, as the drivers are at no fault if vehicles are damaged during accidents.
7. Working uniforms of superior quality cloth, along with raincoats, must be immediately supplied to employees.
8. Disparities must be removed as per the judgement of the Punjab and Haryana High Court with effect from January 1, 1986.
9. Condemned buses and iron scrap must be auctioned immediately.
10. Mini bus stands must be set up at PGIMER and Manimajra, and a new bus depot at Raipur Khurd.
11. Notification about Chandigarh must be implemented and workshop employees consider as Technicians Grade I, II, III, and IV, so that they may draw wages as per their grade.

State CITU general secretary Raghunath Singh, its vice president Chander Shekhar, state AITUC general secretary Bant Singh Brar and Punjab Anganwari Mulajam Union’s president Usha Rani, among others, addressed the protest rally held in the premises of local bus stand in Sector 17. They congratulated the CTU workers for the successful strike and protest dharna. Criticising the Chandigarh administration and CTU management for their anti- workers policies, Raghunath Singh accused them of hatching plans to start the illegal contract system in and eventually privatise the CTU. He added that the Chandigarh Administration is in a hurry to implement the neo-liberal economic policies which are bound to hand the public sector undertakings over to the private hands at throwaway prices. It is the workers who have to stand as one, like a rock, to save the public sector. Singh then said the national level unity of central trade unions has created confidence in the working class that anti-people policies could be reversed by developing broad unity and militant struggles.

CTU Workers and Employees Union general secretary Ranjit Singh, Gopal Dutt Joshi and Ram Swaroop (Chandigarh Powermen Union), Satinder Singh (CTU Workers Union), B S Chadha (general secretary, Housing Board Resident Welfare Association), Subhash Chawla (deputy mayor, Chandigarh Municipal Corporation), Joginder Singh Saini Burail (general secretary, UT Village Sangharsh Samiti), Principal Gurbachan Singh (general secretary, Chandigarh Congress), Gurmeet Singh Attawa, Raghubir Singh Sandhu, Rajinder Kumar (UT SS Federation), Sat Parkash Sharma (president, UT Maintenance Committee),  Vijay Saini, Kaka Singh, Ranbir singh, Shamsher Singh, Rakesh Sharma, Joginder Singh, Hardeep Singh and Dalwara Singh also addressed the striking workers.