Punjab govt employees call off strike after assurance on withdrawal of 'unauthorised leave' letter, notices

CHANDIGARH: Government employees in Punjab have called off their pen-down strike after the state government assured them that it would withdraw its August 27 letter terming their mass leave as "unauthorised leave" and the show-cause notices issued to them.

The employees will soon hold a meeting with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to discuss their pending demands. The employees had earlier decided to continue their protest through mass leave till September 11 if their demands were not accepted. Initially, the strike had been announced only for September 8.

The decision to withdraw the protest was taken after an hour-long meeting between Chief Secretary KAP Sinha and employee leaders, including Sahil Sharma and Alka Chopra, at the former’s office this morning. Sinha assured the leaders that no coercive action would be taken against the employees.

After the meeting with the Chief Secretary, employee union leaders, including the convener of the Sanjha Mullazam Manch, Sukhchain Khera, announced that the strike was being rolled back.

"The agreement has been reached only regarding the withdrawal of letters seeking action against protesting employees, including the 'no work, no pay' action proposed by the government yesterday. No discussion on our original demands of enhanced dearness allowance (DA); reverting to Old Pension Scheme and other service and pay structure-related demands took place. As a result, our protest concerning these demands on September 12-13 will continue as scheduled," said Khera.

According to the union leaders, following the August 27 strike, the government had issued a letter proposing action over the absence of around 2,500 employees.

On Tuesday, union leaders held a meeting with Principal Secretary General (Administration) KK Yadav, but the talks remained inconclusive. Following this, the employees, who had initially announced a one-day strike on Tuesday, decided to extend their protest until Friday.

Wednesday marked the second day of their pen-down strike, which was called to pressure the government into withdrawing its order declaring their previous protest leave as “unauthorised leave”.

The employees had demanded that talks would be held only if the government withdrew its order of August 27, calling their strike then as "unauthorised leave" and the show-cause notices being issued to employees.

After the employees extended their protest last evening, the government initiated action under the 'no work, no pay' policy. The government’s decision is expected to ease the resentment among employees. The withdrawal of the letter is being viewed as a significant step towards addressing the concerns raised by employee organisations.