Talks fail, govt buses to stay off roads from 6am today
The aggrieved staff's decision to keep off the duty that is likely to put daily commuters into huge inconvenience comes despite Karnataka high court passing an interim order Monday directing the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Trade Unions of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation Employees to put on hold their proposed strike until Tuesday.
Transport minister Ramalinga Reddy said everyone should abide by the high court directive.
"Can employees violate the court order? Are they above court? The state govt will bring it to court's notice," he said, adding MDs of all four RTCs have been directed to run services as per the schedule.
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KSRTC, its northeast and northwest arms and BMTC together ferry more than 1.1 crore passengers every day. More than 40 lakh commuters travel by BMTC alone every day.
The state govt is quietly preparing a plan B roping in private operators, should trade unions bring the KSRTC infrastructure to a standstill from Tuesday.
HV Anantha Subba Rao, president of KSRTC Staff and Workers Federation, which is part of JAC, said talks with the CM failed. The unions have been pressing the state government to clear wage arrears and revise pay.
Warning disciplinary action against employees joining the strike and that Karnataka Essential Services Maintenance Act clearly prohibits staff from the strike, KSRTC managing director Akram Pasha told TOI transport is an essential service and buses will operate as usual on Tuesday.
"We've conveyed the HC's directive to employees and unions. Circulars on the 'no work, no pay' policy have already been issued," he added.
Reacting to the HC's directive, Subba Rao said their lawyers will examine the content of the order.
BMTC managing director R Ramachandran claimed the CM has "responded positively" to union demands, while appealing to the employees to drop the strike plan. "Since BMTC provides essential services, employees are urged to not take part in the strike," he said.
Another senior official said, "Before any strike call, we observe signs of absenteeism a day in advance. However, all scheduled services operated on Monday without crew shortages. We expect a similar turnout on Tuesday."
The official said that following the April 2021 bus strike, over 1,300 BMTC employees were dismissed and more than 2,500 suspended from service.
About the two back-to-back meetings, Subba Rao said they demanded that the government clear salary arrears of all 38 months, but the CM agreed only to 14 months of arrears, based on one-man committee's report. He added that the CM "remained silent" on wage revision from January 1, 2024, saying it could be discussed after the legislative session.
"Despite our early strike notice, the government held a meeting with unions only a day before the strike. This shows a lack of seriousness," he added.
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