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India Today
6 days ago
- Business
- India Today
Wage hike, arrear talks fail between Karnataka transport union and Siddaramaiah
Talks between the Karnataka government and transport corporation employees ended in a deadlock on Monday, with no agreement reached on key issues of wage revision and arrears employees had threatened to go on strike from Tuesday, but have now deferred their protest, citing a pending court hearing on the same of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) Staff and Workers Federation, HV Anantha Subbarao, said the meeting with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah lasted two hours but failed to yield results. The unions are demanding a 25 per cent wage hike from the current base of Rs Rs 1,124 and arrears for 38 months, which they estimate to be around Rs 1,800 'The Chief Minister appealed to us to withdraw the strike. He offered to pay arrears for 14 months and begin wage negotiations only after the Assembly session. But we cannot accept that. We want arrears for the entire 38-month period, we worked during that time. We also want a commitment to start wage hike talks immediately,' Subbarao added that the issue is now narrowed down to 24 months' arrears, roughly Rs 1,000 crore, as the government has already agreed to pay for 14 months. 'This is not a fresh financial burden. Talks can still continue even during the strike, but the ball is in the government's court,' he Minister Siddaramaiah, however, said the unions' current demands go beyond what was agreed to earlier. 'In 2016, when I was Chief Minister, I had implemented a 12.5 per cent wage hike. In March 2023, the previous government signed an agreement for a 15 per cent increase in basic pay. A committee led by Srinivas Murthy recommended paying arrears from January 2022 to February 2023, and we have accepted that. But asking for 38 months of arrears now is unreasonable,' he pointed out that the financial condition of the transport corporations is fragile. 'When we came to power, the collective debt was Rs 4,000 crore. In 2018, it was only Rs 14 crore. None of the corporations are running in profit. The government will not act unfairly, but we all have to cooperate,' he insisted that matters should be resolved through dialogue and said the possibility of holding elections to transport unions would be examined. Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh, and several corporation chairpersons and union leaders were present at the the strike has been deferred, the deadlock remains. 'There will be no protest tomorrow. We will wait for the court hearing on Tuesday before deciding our next course of action,' the union said.- Ends IN THIS STORY#Karnataka
The Hindu
15-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Government's decision to increase per-day working hours of APSRTC employees opposed
Leaders of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) Staff and Workers Federation have called for protests and gate meetings at all the depots across the State on June 19 to oppose the State government's decision to increase working hours to 10-hours-a-day and to allow women to work in night shifts. Speaking at the federation's State committee meeting in Guntur on Sunday, its State president Ch. Sundaraiah and general secretary M. Ayyappa Reddy expressed concern over the government's 'anti-worker policies' and said they would participate in the State-wide protest call given by the Joint Action Committee of Employees and Workers Unions. The federation leaders demanded that the government implement the circular 1/2019 on conductor's job security, cancel the worker-hostile clauses in GO No. 70, and pay all the pending dues to employees and workers. They also demanded immediate constitution of the Pay Revision Commission (PRC) and announcement of Interim Relief (IR). The federation has decided to hold its State conference on June 27 in Vijayawada to discuss the issues affecting conductors and other employees. The leaders also announced plans to hold a State-level 13th conference on October 9-10 in Tirupati, and organise training classes for selected activists in July. They urged the APSRTC management to discuss and resolve the issues affecting employees and workers, and demanded deployment of new buses, recruitment of drivers, conductors and mechanics and payment of all pending dues.
The Hindu
27-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
TGSRTC workers' union for suspension of contractual employment
A workers' union of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) has demanded that the management hit the brakes on its plan to hire workers on a contractual basis. Citing the retirement of over a few thousand workers over the past decade, the union has called for regular recruitment to fill long-pending vacancies in the corporation. The Staff and Workers Federation (SWF) has urged a roll back of the hiring move and sought the notification of regular, full-time posts. The union maintained that upwards of 10,000 workers had retired in the last 10 years. They claimed that little or no direct recruitment has happened in the same time period. Only a handful of compassionate appointments have been made, union office bearers Veeranjaneyulu and V. S. Rao said. With the Mahalaxmi Scheme, that provides free bus rides to women, launched in December 2023, occupancy has spiked. This has led to the need for augmenting the bus fleet of more buses and increasing staff strength. However, the union alleged that the TGSRTC has not expanded its fleet to meet the rising demand. Recruitments too have been put on the back burner. Arguing that the TGSRTC is a permanent service-oriented institution, the union asserted that contractual recruitment not only contravenes certain stipulations, but also is a betrayal of unemployed youth. They noted that while both regular and contract staff perform the same duties, the latter face severe pay disparities and job insecurity. The union also criticised the practice of outsourcing recruitment to private contractors. The government's approach is akin to dividing unions, they said.
