Protesting outsourced workers under Uttarakhand Purva Sainik Kalyan Nigam Limited (UPNL) refused to return to work in their respective departments unless the State government initiates a dialogue with them.
They asserted that they have legitimate demands and will continue their protest as long as the government continues to delay its decision in the matter. According to the president of the UPNL employees union Kushagra Joshi, “The State government has called our protest invalid when we are asking for equal pay for equal work for which the Uttarakhand High Court had also directed the administration in the past. The government said that they recently gave a raise to the UPNL outsourced workers in August but failed to mention that it stands nowhere in the current inflation.”
He further added that the government recently said that it has enough registered unemployed people who can be hired instead of the protesting employees but it will lead to the same stage after a few years when those employees face similar problems. “We are not backing out till the government initiates a healthy dialogue with us. We will continue our fight and nobody will return to their work. If required, we will take our protest on the roads,” said Joshi.
Wednesday, 03 March 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
