‘108’ ambulance workers end stir

Tribune News Service

Mohali, July 12

Protesting ‘108’ ambulance workers called off their two-day strike after getting assurance of revocation of service of their nearly 100 colleagues and sympathetic consideration of their long-pending demands by the employer company, Ziqitza Health Care, by next week.

The assurance in this regard has been given by Varun Roojam, MD of Punjab Health Systems Corporation, who headed the meeting of the delegation of workers and officials of the company on Thursday evening.

Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Roojam said company officials had agreed to reinstate the sacked employees, around 100 in number, while other demands of the workers would also be considered sympathetically in a meeting to be held next week. “The strike has been called off,” said Roojam.

It is to be noted that a total of 240 ambulances of ‘Dial 108’ scheme had gone off the road on Wednesday after as many as 1,160 employees (drivers and emergency medical technicians of EMTs) went on a 12-hour strike. The strike was extended on Thursday and no ambulance ran today.

Apart from reinstatement of sacked workers, the protesters were demanding increment, which they claimed to have been pending since 2013, and reduction of duty hours from 12 hours to eight hours. The workers also alleged that they were not getting salaries for the past three months.