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RTC employees end strike without riders
Hyderabad The employees of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) on Wednesday ended their strike and said they would return to work without pressing
Hyderabad The employees of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) on Wednesday ended their strike and said they would return to work without pressing for their demands.
The Joint Action Committee of Telangana RTC employees’ unions took the decision at an emergency meeting in the evening. “We are prepared to return to work if the government takes us back unconditionally. We also want the government to restore the pre-strike atmosphere so as to ease our return,” JAC convenor E Ashwathama Reddy told reporters.
More than 48,000 employees of the RTC had been on strike since October 5 over their demands which included merger of RTC with the government, revision of their pay pending since 2017, filling up vacant posts of drivers and conductors.
During the 47-day strike, five RTC employees committed suicides. Another seven died of stroke or other stress-related causes.
JAC leaders said their decision came in the wake of the state government’s Monday judgment wherein it directed the government to refer employees’ demands to the labour court within two weeks.
“Though the government has not responded to the judgment yet, the JAC has taken the initiative and decided to call off the strike in the interest of the employees and also commuters,” Reddy said.
“We are confident that we would get justice in the labour court. We hope that the state government and also the RTC management honour the judgment,” Reddy said.
He, however, asked the RTC management not to insist on any written commitment from the employees. “We shall return to the duties by signing the muster rolls. If the government is not willing to take us back, the strike will continue,” he said.
There was no government response to the JAC decision. “It is for chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) to take a call. Nobody else can make a commitment on taking them back,” a senior transport department official said on the condition of anonymity.
KCR had set a deadline of November 5 for the employees to return to work. However, most of the employees refused to return to work. Following the strike, the chief minister had announced 50% privatisation of public transport. The issue is currently in the high court.
