NCCOEEE to Support Maharashtra Electricity Employees Strike
By EEFI

About 90,000 employees working with Maharashtra power utilities would strike work for three days from August 22 to demand pension and cancellation of franchisee policy. All the unions and federations in states will conduct the supportive action on 22nd August'07 under the banner of National Coordination committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers by way of dharnas and rallies against the privatisation drive in Maharashtra, UP (Anpara) and for extension of SEBs.

MSEB Workers Federation, an umbrella body of all 17 workers unions in the erstwhile state company, had called for a 72 hour strike beginning from midnight of August 21, as the Government has neglected their demands regarding implementation of pension scheme and abolishing franchisee system adopted by the Maharashtra Electricity Distribution Company Ltd. Some of the salient demands are cancellation of franchisee policy, the meeting of a wage agreement, the starting of pensions, the filling up of 25 to 30 thousand vacancies and halting contract based employees. Some 3,000 relatives of employees who have died on the job are to be given employment as well.

Representatives from the 17 employee’s unions who represent the employees of the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) stood with a rose at the premises of the MSEB office at Prakashgad in Bandra (E). They then presented their roses to the important officials who entered the office.
They then walked towards the second MSEB office at Prakashganaga near the Bandra Kurla complex. Since they had decided on a ‘silent morcha’, they did not shout out their slogans. But if their demands are unmet then they have planned for a 72 hour strike from August 22 to 24.
Since they had decided on a ‘silent morcha’, they did not shout out their slogans. But if their demands are unmet then they have planned for a 72 hour strike from August 22 to 24.
The Vijh Kamgar Mahasangh affiliated to the Bharatiya Majdur Sangh, International Trade Union Congress, Schedule Cast and Schedule Tribe Trade Union, Subordinate Engineers Association, Technical Workers Union, Kamgar Sena, Officers Union, Driver Cleaner’s Association, Rashtriyavadhi Vidhyuth Kamgar Sanghtna, Class Four Employee Association and Rashtriya Vijh Kamgar Sanghtna were some of the Unions who had come together to present their common demands.
This is the third time that the MSEB unions have taken out a strike. Whenever the employees had decided to go on a strike, it was either cancelled or postponed as the higher authorities met with the unions and promised that they would fulfil their demands. “We won’t listen to the authorities if this time too they start discussions with us at the last moment,” said Chandrakant Neve, Joint Secretary, Kalyan Zone, Vijh Kamgar Mahasangh.
He added, “If our demands are not met even after today’s silent morcha then we have plans to proceed on a 72 hour strike. During the strike we won’t switch of the electricity supply but if supply is stopped for any default we won’t fix it.”