Punjab: National Health Mission contractual employees go on one-day strike demanding regularisation of services
27 April 2021: Contractual National Health Mission (NHM) employees in Punjab went on a one-day strike demanding regularisation of their services. They staged protests at hospitals in various districts of the state where they have been working as frontline workers during the pandemic, earning meager salaries. Union members revealed that NHM employees in other states like Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan etc. had been regularised, and that a policy for regularisation had been drawn up in 2016 but it was relegated to the backburner.
Chhattisgarh: Bhilai Steel Plant workers go on tool-down strikes to protest delay in wage revision
26 April 2021: Bhilai Steel Plant workers went on tool-down strikes across various shops to protest against the delay in implementing wage revision by the management. Workers also demanded adequate compensation for the deaths of workers due to Covid-19, the number of which increased this month. The management has responded to the strike by suspending 13, issuing show-cause notice to other 19 and filing police cases against 4 workers.
Maharashtra: General Motors Employees Union challenges layoffs by management at Talegaon plant as illegal
19 April 2021: The General Motors Employees Union (GMEU) has challenged the layoff of all 1,419 workers at the Talegaon plant by the company as entirely illegal. The company declared the layoffs under Section 25-M of the ID Act under which no prior permission from the government is required. GMEU said the retrenchment was illegal as the provisions under Section 25-M were not applicable since neither the Central nor the State Government had declared the pandemic as a “Natural Calamity.” Additionally, the matter was still in the District Labour Court and the final order was pending, at the time of the layoff notice by the company.
Chandigarh: Power sector workers go on strike against decision to privatise electricity distribution
20 April 2021: Power sector workers in Chandigarh went on strike against the Union Territory’s decision to privatise the electricity distribution as well as the adamant attitude of the authorities towards other long pending demands including filling up vacant posts of promotion and direct quota, removal of the pay anomalies, offer of appointment to the next of kin of deceased employees and regularisation of all temporary workers.
