Starting 22 February, the UT Powermen Union will go on strike to protest the privatisation of the electricity department. The employees have expressed fear that privatisation will cause higher power tariffs for the city residents, and bring undesirable changes to the service conditions.
The National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE) is in full support of the striking employees and has condemned the Departments’ decision to go for privitisation.
VK Gupta, spokesperson of All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) has said that all electricity employees and engineers of NCCOEEE constituent organisations are going to hold demonstrations at all state capitals to show their support to the employees who are fighting against the privitisation of the Department.
Power-sector employees and engineers from Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are going to join strikers in Chandigarh and lend their voices to the protest. The employees have threatened that the strike may even extend more than three days if the Department refuses to budge from its decision.
The UT electricity department sent an alert to the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation and requested an alternative source of supply in case there is a shortage because of the strike. The municipal corporation will make provisions for storage of fuel for diesel generator sets to deal with any breakdown of electrical power in the absence of employees.
