7 days ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
Transport staff to go on strike across Karnataka from today
BENGALURU: Buses run by state transport corporations will stay off roads from 6 am on Tuesday, as corporation employees decided to go ahead with their indefinite strike after talks with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah failed on Monday. Though the state government is roping in private vehicles to minimise impact on travellers, the strike will still inconvenience lakhs of commuters as the operation of thousands of state-operated buses across Karnataka and outside will be affected.
Though the Karnataka High Court on Monday directed the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Trade Unions of KSRTC, led by AITUC-affiliated KSRTC Staff and Workers' Federation, to put on hold the proposed indefinite strike from August 5 for a day, the JAC said it received the HC writ petition and order copy only by 7.30 pm and all the members of the JAC were not available for discussion and decision. 'We have submitted the writ petition for legal opinion and will decide on Tuesday. The strike will start as announced,' Federation General Secretary Vijaya Bhaskar said.
The JAC, which consists of trade unions of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), North Western Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) and Kalyana Karnataka West Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC), had called for an indefinite strike seeking implementation of many of their demands. The major demands include 25% pay hike with effect from January 1, 2024, settlement of pending salary arrears for 38 months (January 1, 2020, to February 28, 2023) and wage revision.
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On Monday, Siddaramaiah chaired a high-level meeting with Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, federation president HV Anantha Subbarao and JAC representatives at Vidhana Soudha. After the meeting that lasted for almost three hours, Subbarao said, 'Siddaramaiah remained non-committal on the 25% wage hike revision from January 1, 2024. As against the clearance of 38 months' salary arrears, the CM has agreed to pay only 14 months. The stalemate continues and we are going ahead with the strike.'
