PRTC contractual staff go on 3-day strike

Commuters faced great inconvenience as members of the PRCTC Contract Workers’ Union went on three-day strike in favour of their demands here on Monday. Hundreds of buses originating from the Amritsar depot remained off the roads as the workers held a sit-in.

Hapreet Kaur, a passenger, who had come along with her three-year-old daughter to board a bus at the ISBT, said she reached here after hiring an auto-rickshaw for Rs 50 only to learn that the government-run buses are off the roads. She said after taking time off her domestic chores and a small-time job, she managed to reach here. She said the state-run bus service is the preferred mode of transport for women as it offered free of cost travel to women. Now, she would have to revisit here some other day.

Over 250 buses of PUNBUS and Punjab Roadways of Amritsar depots were off the roads. Jodh Singh, senior vice-president of the Punjab Roadways PUNBUS Contractual Workers’ Union, said they were compelled to go on strike and held the government responsible for inconveniences caused to people. They said neither the government nor the management acted upon their notice submitted over one-and-a-half months ago.

He recalled that the July 1 meeting with CM Bhagwant Singh Mann, in which he had instructed the Transport Secretary to draft a special policy which would be passed by the Cabinet is yet to be implemented. On the January 2 meeting with the Transport Minister, he described it mere an eyewash.

There are three kinds of employees — regular, contractual and outsourced employees. Of them, least paid are outsourced employees who are getting a measly Rs 12,000.

The protesting workers sought the regularisation of the services of over 7,500 workers employed by the PRTC, pay parity and reinstatement of those employees who have been shown the door under certain conditions.

On the first day of the three-day strike, none of the PUNBUS and PRTC buses plied from Shahid Madan Lal Dhingra Inter-state Bus Terminal (ISBT) on Monday.

Harpreet Singh, a passenger at the ISBT, said long-route passengers waiting for their buses were greatly inconvenienced.