TGSRTC workers declare strike on Feb 9, demand govt to fulfil promises on wage hike, PF

Hyderabad: Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) unions on Monday announced a statewide strike from February 9, if the State government failed to resolve their long-pending issues.

It is the first time in five years that the RTC unions have announced to go on strike.

The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of TGSRTC employees met the corporation’s executive director Muni Sekhar, in the absence of managing director VC Sajjanar, at Bus Bhavan here and put forward their needs.

TGSRTC employees have 21 demands

The JAC submitted a notice with 21 demands to the management which include the merger of RTC employees with the government as per theTSRTC (Absorption of Employees into Government Service) Bill, 2023, passed by the Assembly in August 2023 but yet to be implemented, implementation of two Pay Revision Commissions (PRCs) with arrears dating back to 2021, payment of Rs 2,700 crore towards Credit Cooperative Society (CCS) and Provident Fund (PF) dues owed to employees and retirees.

Anticipating the arrival of the union leaders in large numbers, police deployed additional forces near the TGSRTC headquarters to prevent any untoward incidents. The RTC unions, enraged by the Congress government’s indifference to RTC employees despite being in power for 14 months, have threatened to go on strike if the State government does not meet their demands in the coming days.

Fears about RTC privatisation

"Despite being in power for more than 14 months, the State government has failed to follow through on promises made to corporation employees. RTC employees are concerned that they will lose their employment as speculation about RTC privatisation spreads throughout the State," said TGSRTC JAC general secretary I Venkanna.

The JAC general secretary also said that workers are protesting because wages have not been increased, and their dues are unpaid. They also expressed concern that introducing electric buses as part of the RTC fleet modernisation is jeopardising thousands of jobs since the buses are reportedly maintained by private operators.

Venkanna also threatened to escalate their protests statewide if their demands are not fulfilled which include staff recruitment to alleviate overburdened workers forced into 14–16 hour shifts and delayed promotions and payment of gratuities pending since September 2023 for retirees.