RTC strike to go ahead from Tuesday despite High Court direction: JAC

Despite High Court directions, the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of transport corporation employees has announced that the Statewide strike will begin from 6 a.m. on Tuesday.

Speaking to The Hindu, Ananth Subbarao, president of the KSRTC Staff and Workers’ Federation, confirmed on Monday evening that the strike will proceed as planned. “The meeting with the Chief Minister failed on Monday afternoon. We were served a copy of the court order at 7.30 p.m., but the government has not addressed the pressing issues faced by corporation employees. Therefore, we are going ahead with the strike,” he said.

Mr. Subbarao also clarified that since other JAC members were unavailable on Monday evening, no formal meeting was held to discuss the court’s directive. “We haven’t convened a meeting with all other JAC members on the court’s direction yet,” he added.

Meanwhile, managing directors of both KSRTC and BMTC issued an appeal to their employees, asking them to comply with the court directions.

“Dear Employees, as the High Court has issued an injunction against the strike called by labour unions tomorrow, we must honour the order. Since the Chief Minister has responded positively, employees of the transport corporation, which is a public utility service, are requested not to participate in tomorrow’s strike,” the note stated.

Talks with CM fail

A final round of talks was held on Monday between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, and representatives of the employees’ union, but the discussions ended without a resolution.

Mr. Siddaramaiah urged the unions to call off their planned protest.

“Several meetings have already been conducted with various transport unions. These issues can be resolved through mutual dialogue. During my previous tenure in 2016, the government had implemented a 12.5% salary hike for transport employees. But the former BJP government failed to revise salaries in 2020, citing the pandemic,” Mr. Siddaramaiah stated in a release.

“When we came to power in 2013, the combined debt of all transport corporations stood at ₹4,000 crore. By 2018, when we left office, it reduced to just ₹14 crore. At present, none of the corporations are running in profit. The government will not act unfairly towards anyone. Cooperation from all corporations is essential,” the Chief Minister added.