Punjab: Electricity workers will be on strike on July 9 in protest against privatization

Punjab: A conference of electricity employees from the states of the northern zone was held here on Tuesday under the banner of the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEE), the apex body of electricity employees and engineers. The conference unanimously condemned the privatisation of electricity and ignoring the demands of electricity employees and announced a nationwide general strike on July 9. Joint meetings of consumers and employees will be held across the country for the success of the strike. Hundreds of office bearers and workers from Haryana, Punjab, Himachal, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Rajasthan participated in the conference and approved the strike proposal presented by the committee’s convener Sudeep Dutta.
The conference condemned the UP government’s decision to privatise Purvanchal and Dakshinanchal Discoms and decided to demonstrate solidarity across the country on July 2 in support of the ongoing agitation of UP electricity employees. EEFI National Vice President Subhash Lamba said that electricity is a service for the government and a business for the private company. He said that after privatisation, electricity will be out of the reach of the poor and farmers. He said that despite the announcement, the notification of the Eighth Pay Commission has not been issued. He said that demands like restoration of old pension, regularization of contract workers, filling of vacant posts through permanent recruitment are being ignored. NHPC Union Chairman Devendra Singh Hooda said that on July 9, all the organizations in Haryana will go on strike showing solidarity.