On the call of the state committee of the Punjab Roadways Punbus/Contract Workers Union Punjab, roadways employees today held a gate rally at the depot here. A large number of roadways workers participated in the rally and burnt copies of the “down cadre policy” in protest.
On the occasion, Ranjit Singh, depot president of the organisation, Dalwinder Singh, state leader, along with Lovepreet Singh, Avtar Singh, Angrej Singh, Baljinder Singh, Sukhminder Singh, Gurmail Singh and others addressed the gathering.
The leaders said that under the government’s down cadre policy, the services of employees would be adversely affected as no employee would get promotions or salary increments. They alleged that the government was refusing to accept their demands and was introducing private buses under the kilometre scheme instead of adding government buses.
The leaders further said that privatisation would amount to appeasement of the private sector and create monopoly in the roadways sector. They also condemned the imprisonment of 10 leaders of the organisation, who have allegedly been behind bars for the past six months.
The leaders warned that if the government fails to address the employees’ demands in the meeting scheduled for May 18, the workers would be forced to intensify their agitation. The employees also raised slogans against the government during the protest.
