Tangedco unions seek tripartite agreement on restructuring EB

CHENNAI: The Joint Action Committee of Tamil Nadu Electricity Board Trade Unions and Associations have urged the Tangedco Chairman and managing director to initiate steps to sign a tripartite agreement with regard to the restructuring of the electricity board to protect the interest and service conditions of the existing employees.

In a letter to the Tangedco CMD, the JAC comprising of all major unions including DMK affiliated LPF and CITU’s COTEE said that the restructuring of TNEB was carried out in 2010 and the board was trifurcated into multiple corporations under the control of the State government. As per the GO dated October 19, 2010, almost all the processes of restructuring the board were carried out and brought into effect except the signing of the tripartite agreement.

“The GO was issued in the year 2010, but even after the lapse of more than a decade, the tripartite agreement is yet to be finalised and is still in the draft form only. But, in the past 12 years, many changes and amendments were brought to the rules and regulations, many of these orders are against the labour and against the agreed settlements between the trade unions and the board, drastically affecting the interest and service conditions of the existing working employees, ” the unions said.

Pointing out that the neighbouring state electricity boards have acted swiftly and enacted the tripartite agreement soon after restructuring and successfully established the separate pension fund, it said that even after the lapse of 12 years, the main commitment envisaged in the GO to safeguard the interest of the employees are not achieved in the organisation.

The JAC said that it had made several representations to the management including the latest on January 30, 2020, and sought the inclusion of the term “unconditional guarantee” by the State government in the settlement.

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