Power employees to write 1 lakh letters to Andhra CM Jagan Mohan Reddy

VIJAYAWADA: Opposing APTRANSCSO’s reported proposal to revise pay structure and scale of employees in the pandemic time and also not recognising power utilities’ employees as frontline warriors, the power sector employees have decided to show their resentment by writing one lakh letters/post cards to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Energy Minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy, if no amicable solution is reached immediately.

They also have decided to ‘boycott’ the COVID-19 awards proposed by the utilities until frontline warriors status is announced along with an ex-gratia of `50 lakh to the families of over 500 employees who succumbed to  coronavirus.

The AP State Power Employees Joint Action Committee has written to Energy Secretary Srikant Nagulapalli on Tuesday informing the same, and has also presented a copy to Energy Minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy urging that the long-pending issues be resolved. They said that merely releasing press notes that employees were frontline warriors was just a lip service and alleged that the managements were ‘consistently’ trying to create a gap between the CM and the employees.

They said altering pay structure and scales of employees, especially in times of a pandemic,  would be against the spirit of mutually entered Wage Negotiation Agreement. The employees said that if the managements noticed any lacunae in its implementation, corrective steps must be taken but not cause harm to the employees.  

“As a token of resentment, the JAC is planning to initially write one lakh post cards/letters to the CM and the energy minister, if amicable settlement is not reached now that the responsibility squarely lies with the managements alone. If the issues remain unsolved, further agitation programmes in Gandhian mode will also be started without inconveniencing the public,” the JAC said.