Commuters faced problems on Tuesday morning after employees of the state-run Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC), which has a fleet of more than 2,500 buses, went on a two-day strike late on Monday night.
The employees are demanding the regularisation of the services of the contract staff and pension benefits, among other things.
The strike hit the commuters, especially tourists, hard with connectivity between cities and towns affected.
The employees said no corporation buses were plying in the state.
However, some of the buses of Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand state roadways are functional but they were overcrowded.
Officials of the HRTC said the employees on strike would resume work from Wednesday midnight.
The HRTC has been making losses but has been important to the state as it connects far-flung villages with cities across the state.
The Himachal Pradesh high court on Monday asked the roadways employees to call off their strike. The court asked the state to look into their demands.
“It’s the law of the land that employees cannot go on strike to press for their demands. The court has already declared the strike of doctors illegal. Accordingly, we deem it proper to issue notice,” said the bench.
{{/usCountry}}“It’s the law of the land that employees cannot go on strike to press for their demands. The court has already declared the strike of doctors illegal. Accordingly, we deem it proper to issue notice,” said the bench.
{{/usCountry}}It asked the transport secretary and the HRTC managing director to have a joint meeting with the employees and try to redress their grievances by June 20, the next date of hearing.
Transport minister GS Bali said that 90% of demands of the employees had been accepted.