Demand for regularization of temporary employees who have completed ten years of service gains momentum amidst layoffs.

Demand for regularization of temporary employees who have completed ten years of service gains momentum amidst layoffs.

There is no job security policy for temporary employees in the administration and Municipal Corporation.

A protest rally was organized by the Joint Employees Front at Masjid Ground.

Chandigarh 15 January ( Ranjeet Singh Dhaliwal ) : Today, a massive protest rally was organized by the Joint Employees Front at Masjid Ground in support of the pending demands of UT and MC employees. The main demands of regular, contract, and outsourced employees in the protest rally included: regularization of daily wage, contract, and outsourced employees engaged in perennial tasks; equal pay for equal work; reinstatement of outsourced employees dismissed from CTU; repeal of new labor laws; cessation of layoffs of temporary employees under the guise of rationalization; payment of DC rates to mid-day meal employees; removal of ESMA from CTU and the electricity department; cancellation of termination and retirement orders given to crèche employees; withdrawal of FIRs registered against CTU employee union leaders; adjustment of government employees transferred from the electricity department to other government offices; granting promotion posts to UT employees by fully implementing central rules; implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission and payment of arrears including allowances; increasing the ESI and bonus limit to 50,000; providing CGHS medical facilities; and providing jobs to dependents of deceased employees without any ceiling, etc.

Prominent employee organizations and federations of Chandigarh participated in this rally.

The leaders of the employee organizations addressed the gathering, expressing their anger at the indifferent attitude of the Chandigarh and MC administration towards resolving the long-pending demands. In the protest rally, Convener Gopal Dutt Joshi demanded the removal of ESMA from CTU and the electricity department, and Dharmendra Rahi demanded the immediate reinstatement of drivers and conductors who had completed ten years of service and were terminated by the administration upon the arrival of new electric buses.

From the Joint Action Committee, Shiv Murat Yadav demanded the regularization of all categories of temporary employees engaged in perennial tasks, while Sukhbir Singh demanded equal pay for equal work. Conveners Ashwani Kumar and Ranbir Rana demanded the full implementation of central government rules and the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations. Conveners Bipin Sher Singh and Ashok Kumar demanded job security for temporary employees. From the Federation of UT Employees, Rajendra Katoch and Harkesh Chand demanded justice for crèche workers.

The meeting was attended by prominent executive members from the Federation of UT and MC Employees, Joint Employees Welfare Association, Joint Action Committee of UT and MC Employees, Joint Action Committee of Teachers, CTU Workers Union, and All Contractual  Karamchari Sangh Bharat, including Gopal Dutt Joshi, Rajendra Katoch, Harkesh Chand, Subramaniam, Amrik Singh, Sukhbir Singh, Ashwani Kumar, Surmukh Singh, Rajaram, Ranbir Rana, Shiv Murti Yadav, Dharmendra Rahi, Charanjit Dhindsa, Sarpanch Singh, Joginder, Bipin Sher Singh, Ashok Kumar, Satish Kumar, and Gurpreet Bawa, among others. At the end of the protest rally, the Joint Employees Front of UT and MC Employees also demanded a meeting with the Chandigarh administration to address and resolve their demands soon. The Joint Employees Front announced that they will continue their struggle against the government and administration in the new year to get their pending demands fulfilled.