Bus services continue to be hindered as the strike completes 6th day

Bengaluru: As the employees of the road transport corporations continued their strike on Monday, bus services were largely hindered for the sixth consecutive day.

With the standstill between the government and the employees over their wages as per the 6th Pay Commission continuing, a large number of workers did not report to duty which resulted in buses remaining off roads, affecting commuters.

A few RTC employees have returned to work and are operating buses in some routes of the city due to the tough action “no work no pay”.

Deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi said in a statement that more than 3,200 buses belonging to RTC were operating by this afternoon. He thanked employees who returned to work.

Observing that attempts gave been made to stop the employees from returning to work, legal action is being taken against those people and an FIR has been booked.

People travelling to native towns and villages to celebrate Ugadi and office goers have been severely hit as the RTC buses are largely scarce.

Private buses, mini cabs, minibuses and other passenger transport vehicles which the government have roped in to manage the crisis have provided services to commuters in different parts of the city and state.

In the meantime, employees along with their family members staged demonstrations at various districts and taluk centres on Monday which intensified their protest.

There were reports of workers being detained and the government banning protests due to the surge in Covid-19 cases.

As allegedly, the government was not paying their March salaries, many workers have returned to work and been paid.

In the meantime, the Karnataka State Road Transport Employees League decided to continue the protest and demonstration at various places on Tuesday despite it being the Ugadi festival.

The employees also decide to file complaints against the authorities for not paying the March salaries.

CM BS Yediyurappa in Bidar urged the workers to return to work and not cause inconvenience to the commuters who want to travel to their native places to celebrate festivals.

He added, “Action is being taken… Those absent from work will not be paid salary and more stringent measures will be taken. At this difficult time, Rs 2,300 crore has been spent from the government’s exchequer for their salary… We have done things in their favour. Listening to someone, they are indulging in the strike. It is not right. ”

On Sunday, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has said that it has not decided to consider requests for inter-corporation transfer of employees “who are instigating, threatening colleagues for a strike and are hindering bus services, thereby causing inconvenience to the public.”

The employees transferred in such cases have been warned that it would be cancelled and they will be sent to their original place if they fail to attend duty immediately.

As the strike has caused inconvenience to the passengers and is against provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, the Labour Department on Friday has banned the strike and referred the dispute to the industrial tribunal, Bengaluru, for abjudication.

Honorary President of the Karnataka State Road Transport Employees League, Kodihalli Chandrashekhar said that their protest will continue in a peaceful way on Tuesday, despite it being Ugadi.

He said, “On the day of the festival, at various place in Bengaluru and other areas, we will protest with plates, to bring to the notice of the people that employees’ salaries were not being paid and hence, they were unable to celebrate.”