Punjab: Bus services will be affected due to three-day strike of contract workers from today
Punjab: Those planning to travel intra-state and inter-state in government buses in the state may face inconvenience as around 7,500 contract employees of Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC), Punjab Roadways and Punbus have decided to go on a three-day strike from Monday, resulting in suspension of operations of around 3,000 buses. “The decision has been taken in response to the state government’s failure to meet our demands,” said Harkesh Singh Vicky, vice-president of the union. The union held a meeting with Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar on Wednesday to discuss its demands but the talks failed.
“Our demands are simple. Jobs of contract drivers and conductors should be regularised to end exploitation. There should be pay parity between regular and contract employees. The transport department should not encourage contractors to run buses and buy new ones instead,” said Vicky. He said only regular employees will provide services while the union will stage protests at 27 bus depots across the state. He said that currently drivers and conductors are getting salary in two categories. The first batch of drivers and conductors are getting a salary of Rs 18,000 per month. In the second batch, drivers are getting a salary of Rs 13,000 per month and conductors are getting a salary of Rs 12,000 per month.
