The Telangana Electricity Employees 1104 union has threatened to hold a ‘maha dharna’ at the corporate office of TGSPDCL on October 26, if the long-standing issues faced by the employees and artisans working in the company were not resolved
Hyderabad: The managements of State-run power utilities, which are facing allegations of irregularities in the transfer of employees, are likely to face more trouble from employee unions as they have threatened to hold massive protests on October 26 if their long-standing demands are not fulfilled.
The Telangana Electricity Employees 1104 union has threatened to hold a ‘maha dharna’ at the corporate office of Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Limited (TGSPDCL) on October 26, if the long-standing issues faced by the employees and artisans working in the company were not resolved.
State general secretary of the union, affiliated with CPI(M), G Saibabu, gave a notice to TGSPDCL Chairman and Managing Director Musharaff Ali Faruqui on Thursday evening, informing that if their demands were not considered in next few days, the union would hold a massive protest at the SPDCL headquarters in which employees from all the offices across the State would take part.
Saibabu said despite several representations made in the last 3-4 years, the issues of employees, operations and maintenance workers were not resolved.
He demanded that a Pre Negotiation Meeting (PNC) be conducted to resolve all the major issues of the employees by October 25 in a harmonious manner, failing which the union would be left with no other option but to hold the protest as planned.
Meanwhile, the operations and maintenance staff on the field, including senior line inspectors, line inspectors, linemen, assistant lineman, and junior linemen are facing significant distress due to the recent general transfer policy implemented by the SPDCL and Northern Power Distribution Company (NPDCL).
The union leaders claimed that the transfers of Operation and Maintenance (O&M) staff are not aligned with the State government’s guidelines, which stipulate that transfers should occur after four years of service. This discrepancy has led to severe hardships for nearly 23,000 field workers, they alleged.
Even Telangana Electricity BC & OC Employees’ Joint Action Committee is exerting pressure on the managements of power utilities to review the promotions given in the four public sector undertakings since formation of the State in June 2014 as per the directions of the High Court.
They have threatened to go on strike if promotions are not awarded to them in the next few days.
The artisans are also not happy with the decision of the power utilities not to consider them as regular employees and promote them as junior linesmen.
With most of the power staff unhappy with the power utilities management on various issues and employees unions standing firm on their demands, there is a possibility of a massive protest across the State in the power department in the next few days.
