No electricity strike from April 17

HYDERABAD: Electricity employees unions called off their proposed strike from April 17, saying their negotiations with the management of power utilities were were successful. Ahead of the strike notice issued by the TS Power Employees Joint Action Committee (TSPEJAC), the management had held a final round of negotiations here on Saturday night.

The managements offered to provide 7 per cent fitment to the employees on the Pay Revision Commission (PRC)-2022, following which the union leaders agreed to call off the strike.

The other demands the government agreed to were that one increment would be provided as service weightage up to five years, two for 5-15 years and three increments as service weightage above 15 years. House Rent Allowance (HRA) would be provided on par with government employees. Gratuity was increased from Rs 12 lakhs to Rs 16 lakh and pension would be provided as per government guidelines.

Medical facilities were enhanced from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh and the ceiling for self-funded treatment was increased from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 12 lakh, with recovery from each employee being Rs 1,000.  The cap for major ailment charges were also increased from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, and ENT and dental treatment requirements from Rs 12,000 to Rs 50,000.

Arrears will be given to electricity employees in 12 equal instalments. A recommendation made in the upcoming board meeting and would be submitted to the government over conversion of Employees Provident Fund to GPF facility. Full board recommendation is pending for employees who were recruited between 1999-2004.

Chairmen and managing directors D. Prabhakar Rao (TS Transco and Genco), G. Raghuma Reddy (TSSPDCL), A. Gopal Rao (TSNPDCL), the convenors of TSPEJAC and TSEEJAC, P. Ratnakar Rao and N. Shivaji, attended the meeting.