Opposing KSRTC’s wage without consulting the unions, H V Anantha Subba Rao, spokesperson for the joint committee of five unions said that after a similar strike was announced in April, the government had relented and agreed to include unions in further wage revisions. But this had not been implemented, Subba Rao said.
“They signed a document stating that they would not carry out unilateral wage revision again, however on August 25, they announced another 10 per cent hike on their own,” Subba Rao added.
Besides the immediate issue of wage revision, the unions are also protesting the employment of 33,000 workers as trainees at wages “as low as” Rs 4,000 a month.
“They have stopped talking to us after the 10 per cent hike. Yesterday, the Transport Secretary called us and heard our problems but we have not heard from him since,” Subba Rao said on Tuesday evening.
Strikes have already broken out in depots across the state and Subba Rao stated that 16 workers from the Maddur depot were arrested on Monday and taken into judicial custody on Tuesday.
“They have also circulated a list of 1,000 workers to the police and we expect a roundup soon. This is being done to break the spirit of the union. We shall stick to the strike whatever comes and we appeal to the public to bear with us,” he added.
One faction opposes bus strike
The Transport Department Employees and Retired Employees Association Welfare Federation on Tuesday announced that they would not extend their support to Thursday’s indefinite strike by KSRTC’s joint action committee .
The employees’ association said they are hopeful that the state government will look into their demands.
“This strike would cause inconvenience to lakhs of commuters. We are also appealing to KSRTC employees not to participate in the strike as the government has promised to look into their demands,” said Jayashankar Reddy, vice president of the federation.
KSRTC speak
The KSRTC management are still hopeful that the strike will wear itself out in a few days.
“The 10 per cent hike announced this year will cost KSRTC Rs 880 crore. This is a definite increase over previous years when hikes used to be 6 per cent. We are in touch with our employees and hope they will co-operate,” said an official.
The management is clearly worried that operations will be crippled and is now placing their hopes on the goodwill of the employees.
“The organisation has close to 80,000 drivers, even a small percentage taking part would severely affect our services,” said another senior official. The strike has even been called illegal by officials as they said the matter is currently before the labour commission.
“Their pay is still better than that of RTCs in neighbouring states,” the official added.
Others are skeptical of the impact of the strike considering that the workers are spread across the length and breadth of the state.
Comments
0 comment