Ambulance services hit as workers go on a 5-day strike in Himachal

Ambulance services across Himachal were disrupted on Monday as thousands of employees of the 108 and 102 Ambulance Workers Union, affiliated to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), kicked off a five-day strike over a raft of demands.

The workers are seeking withdrawal of the four new Central labour codes, guaranteed payment of minimum wages and an end to what they describe as systematic harassment of ambulance workers.

In Shimla, hundreds of workers gathered at Chotta Shimla near the state Secretariat, raising slogans against the government. Addressing the protest, CITU state president Vijender Mehra said pilots, captains and EMTs working under MedSwan Foundation, the primary employer under the National Health Mission, were being severely exploited.

“Workers are being deprived of minimum wages as prescribed by the government and are being forced to work 12-hour shifts without any overtime pay. What makes this worse is that the exploitation continues despite orders from the Himachal Pradesh High Court, the Labour Court, the CJM Court in Shimla and the Labour Office,” he said.

Mehra added that workers who raise their voices face further harassment. Union leaders are transferred or pressured into resigning, many workers are kept off duty for months without reason and staff are being denied leave, he alleged.

He also flagged irregularities in EPF and ESI contributions, claiming that both the employee and employer shares were being deducted from workers’ own wages, resulting in a loss of around Rs 2,000 per worker per month.

“Ambulance workers must be paid the minimum wages declared by the government and must receive double overtime for 12-hour shifts. We will continue our movement until all our demands are met,” Mehra said.