The contract workers of Punjab Roadways, including workers of PUNBUS Sewa and PEPSU Road Transport Corporation, organized a three-day strike from August 14, demanding regular employment and equal pay for equal work. The strike was organized by the PRTC contract workers’ union and about 8,000 workers took part in it. More than 3,000 buses were off the roads due to the strike.
According to the union, there are hundreds of such contract workers in the PRTC who have been employed for 15 years, and are still not regularized. The union has demanded that the blacklisted workers should be taken back, outsourcing should be abolished and 1000 new buses should be purchased for PRTC. It may be recalled that before the Vidhan Sabha elections, the Aam Aadmi Party had promised that PRTC workers will be regularised
A few months back also, the union held talks with the Chief Minister and they were assured by the Chief Minister that their demands would be met. But this assurance turned out to be false. That is why the workers were forced to plan a three-day strike. Their strike affected public transport so much that the Transport Minister and the Chief Minister once again proposed to hold talks with the union. Considering the problems being faced by the people, the workers withdrew their strike after three days.