Chandigarh: Electricity employees of Chandigarh under the banner of UT Powermen Union staged its 17th demonstration before the office in Sector 17 in its series of regular protests in support of its long pending demands.
They threatened to observe a strike on June 16 if the demands were not met. The demands included providing fault locating van, boom ladders, cable joints, meters, fuse wire and other material in the store and safety devices to workmen, drinking water facility and sitting arrangements in offices, complaint centres and grid sub stations besides implementation of other demands.
The employees were also demanding filling up of 700 vacant posts lying vacant in the department, removal of pay anomalies of employees and offer of appointment to next of kin of the deceased employees.
Gopal Datt Joshi, general secretary of the union, blamed the authorities for increasing accidents in the department, saying safety devices and tools and boom ladders were not being given to complaint centres. The union leaders demanded lodging of criminal cases against officers compelling the employees workers to do extra work.