Transport corporation staff not happy with 15 pc salary hike, to go ahead with strike on March 21

BENGALURU: Despite the state government agreeing to a 15 per cent hike in salaries for transport corporation employees, they have decided to go ahead with their planned strike from March 21, alleging that the government responded to only one of their demands, and that too unilaterally.

At a press conference on Thursday after discussions with Transport Minister B Sriramulu and representatives of employees of the four state-owned road transport corporations, Joint Action Committee president Anantha Subbarao said they had sought a 25 per cent pay revision, but the government had announced only a 15 per cent hike.

“Apart from this, we are demanding an increase in incentives and byata, restoration of jobs for employees who were dismissed for taking part in strikes, among others. This was a one-sided decision and the discussions were inconclusive”, he said.

Anantha Subbarao said they had sought a 25 per cent pay revision, but the government had announced only a 15 per cent hike.

“We are firm on our decision and we will go ahead with the strike from March 21. On Friday, we will have a conference and we will demand that discussions be held with the Chief Minister. The government has agreed to only one of our demands and we will go ahead with our protest”, he said.

He also pointed out that the government had agreed to a 20 per cent pay hike for KPTCL employees and said that it had broken the tradition. “If the CM talks to us, there might be a resolution. If not, we will go ahead with our strike. Since the elections are close, we have given a strike call on March 21 and we do not have any intention of posing problems for the commuting public. The CM should decide if we should go ahead with our strike”, Anantha Subbarao said.

State transport employees’ federation president Chandrashekar insisted, “The government should announce a 25 per cent hike in salaries, take back all those whose services were terminated and take back all the police cases registered against the employees. Also, elections to the unions have not been held for many years and we support the call of the Joint Action Committee”.