CPSUs ELECTRICITY EMPLOYEES ARE TO JOIN NATIONAL STRIKE IN POWER SECTOR

 A convention of electricity employees affiliated to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) was held at B.T. R. Bhavan, New Delhi on 7^th May’05 which was attended by representatives of electricity employees from various NTPC plants and PGCIL grid sub-stations. Coms. Shyamal Chakravorty, Dipankar Mukherjee, Tapan Sen, S. Dev Roye,  and B.S. Meel addressed the delegates and narrated the background, under which SEB’s employees and engineers has given a call for two days nationwide strike to draw the attention of the people towards the adverse impacts of the power policy which will put the development of the country at stake, and appealed the CPSU employees to join the struggle. Treating the attack on the state sector employees as an attack on CPSUs employee, a resolution was adopted to participate in this strike and a five point demand charter as under was raised:

1.                     Scrap the electricity Act and review of the electricity policy

2.                     Stop disinvestments of equity share of Central Power Sector Units like NTPC, POWERGRID etc.

3.                     Stop unbundling/privatizing State Electricity Boards (SEB) and roll-back the unbundled/restructured and privatized SEBs.

4.                     Resolve the problem of electricity supply to rural areas, agriculture,small-scale industries and urban weaker sections and restore cross-subsidisation of the poor/household consumers.

5.                     Protect the service conditions  of the employees of state and central power sector.