CHENNAI: Around 19,000 TNEB workers, affiliated to CITU, BMS, etc., work on Friday, demanding finalisation of wage agreement.
“Although 2.57 per cent wage increase had been agreed upon in October last year, the Minister has failed to give us an assurance on the finalisation and implementation,” said SS Subramanian of CITU.
The wage agreement also encompasses a minimum salary of Rs 18,000, a 125 per cent DA merger along with other allowances. He said that talks on February 12 was a failure, leading to the strike, which is expected to go on until Saturday morning.
While TANGEDCO maintained there was no power disruption due to the strike, Subramanian said while it was not the aim of the striking associations to cause any disruption, there had indeed been disruption. “There have been cases of power disruption reported. Other services like providing new service connections may have been affected and hundreds of cash counters remained closed,” he said.
However, TANGEDCO said the counters functioned regularly and the collection was Rs 66.54 crore, higher than the daily average of Rs 65 crore. Electricity Minister P Thangamani told reporters that the strike was a failure with 90 per cent of employees turning up for work. “We are willing to hold discussions although the strike was a failure,” he said.