Telangana RTC staff demands merger with govt, to go on strike from Oct 5
By Newsmeter Network Published on 30 Sep 2019 8:19 AM GMT
Hyderabad: With demand for the merger with the state government, Telangana RTC employees have decided to go on an indefinite strike from October 5. The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of several employee unions would take part in the strike. The leaders of JAC said the RTC employees had no option but to go on strike by the unhelpful attitude of the Telangana state government.
Telangana State Road Transport Corporation’s (TSRTC) employees decided to press for their demand for the merger of the RTC with the state government.
The JAC leaders complained that the state government failed to fulfil the long-pending demands even after being served the strike notice.
The RTC unions demand that the TSRTC should be merged with the state government. The demand gained momentum after the loss-making Andhra Pradesh RTC (APSRTC) was merged with the AP government early this month.
The TSRTC unions are further demanding pay revision, job security, payment of dues by the state government in addition to filling up of vacancies. The RTC unions represent one lakh employees, including 50,000 contract staff. The JAC is also demanding an increase in the bus fleet.
The union leaders alleged that there is tremendous work pressure on the employees as they were being forced to work beyond shift timings. They said that the TRS government not even recruited one new employee during the past five years.
Ashwathama Reddy, General Secretary, Telangana Mazdoor Union (TMU) demanded for implementation of the assurances given by a Cabinet sub-committee last year. Mr Reddy further expressed concerns over that the government is not coming forward to discuss with the JAC leaders.
He said that the JAC had given six days to the state government to respond to their demands. Otherwise, the JAC would be left with no option but to go on strike.
The union leaders agreed that the strike would cause inconvenience to passengers, but the State government is responsible for the hardships to be faced by the people during Dasara holidays.
The JAC leaders further criticized the state government for not paying dues up to Rs 1,000 crore to the TSRTC, which suffers Rs 3,380-crore losses.
In 2013, a proposal to merge the APSRTC with the government was mooted in the undivided Andhra Pradesh. After becoming the Chief Minister, Mr YS Jaganmohan Reddy fulfilled his poll promise by merging the APSRTC with the State government in August, said the JAC leaders.
