Bus conductors strike, seek full salaries for lockdown months

Bus conductors associated with the Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited (GMCBL) went on a three-hour strike from 5.25am on Thursday at the Sector 53 bus depot, demanding payment of full salaries for April and May and timely payments.

Bus conductors associated with the Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited (GMCBL) went on a three-hour strike from 5.25am on Thursday at the Sector 53 bus depot, demanding payment of full salaries for April and May and timely payments.

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“There is no fixed date for payment of salaries and this month, we received only ₹2,000-3,000 and that too, only this week, when the month is already ending. We have demanded that full salaries should be paid even for the lockdown period,” said a bus conductor at the Sector 53 bus depot, who did not wish to be named.

Officials of the GMCBL said that as per the lockdown guidelines issued by the government, the movement of buses was restricted in April and May, and employees were paid based on duty hours.

“Following the government guidelines, drivers and conductors were called for work on alternative days based on a roster system as only 50% of buses were running in the past two months. The payments, which are made through a private firm, were based on the number of days they worked. We will be giving full salaries from now on as more buses are plying on all the routes,” said Arun Sharma, manager of bus depots at sectors 10 and 53.

The GMCBL has over 160 buses plying on 26 different routes in Gurugram and Faridabad.

The conductors submitted a list of demands to the authorities, seeking payment of full salaries for April and May, and payment of salaries by the tenth of every month.

Rajneesh, a bus conductor at the Sector 10 bus depot, said, “The full salary for the month is ₹17,000, but not even half the amount has been paid this month. If the demands are not met within 15 days, as assured to us, we will go on strike again.”