TGSRTC workers call for statewide strike from May 7 over wage hike, merger

Hyderabad: Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) Joint Action Committee (JAC) on Monday announced a statewide strike from May 7, demanding the State government to implement their pending issues.

First strike in five years

It is the first time in five years that the RTC JAC have announced to go on strike. Initially, the JAC proposed to go on a statewide strike from February 9, however, it was postponed as the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into force in the wake of MLC elections.

The JAC of TGSRTC employees met the corporation’s managing director VC Sajjanar, at Bus Bhavan here and put forward their needs. Later, the JAC leaders also served the strike notice to the Telangana Labour Commissioner.

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, implementation of two PRCs, payment of Rs 2,700 crore towards Credit Cooperative Society (CCS) and Provident Fund (PF) of the employees and others.

Despite being in power for more than 14 months, the State government has failed to follow through on promises made to corporation employees, stated JAC leaders. With no response from the RTC management and labour commissioner, the JAC had decided to stage ‘Chalo Labour Commissioner Office’ on Monday.

However, the police prevented the RTC workers from participating in the protest in Hyderabad and arrested them at Khammam, Sattupalli, Kothagudem, Chengicharla, Hakimpet, Kukatpally, Ibrahimpatnam and other parts of the state. “The strike became inevitable after we had pressured the government and RTC management in many ways to resolve those issues but received no response,” said JAC chairman E Venkanna.

‘Merger promise yet to be fulfilled’

Venkanna said that even though the Congress government had promised to merge the RTC workers with the government, the issue has not been resolved to date. He criticised that even though the election manifesto promised to revive the trade unions, the issue has not been resolved to date. “Even if there is no financial problem for either the government or the management due to the revival of the unions, they should know the reason for not resolving it,” he said.

JAC vice chairman M Thomas Reddy said that workers were being subjected to pressure and harassment from management due to the lack of trade union representation.

“It is regrettable that even after the 2017 wage revision, arrears have not been received even today. It is very painful that the 2017 wage revision fixations have not been made for retired employees and demanded that those fixations be made and arrears be given to them immediately,” he said.

Unions demand hike in allowances

Reddy also criticised the management for not implementing the 2017 allowances and for exploiting the workers’ labour force by continuing to implement the old allowances. He demanded that the wage revision be implemented immediately and the workers be financially supported as the 2021 wage revision deadline has passed. The other demands include that jobs under the breadwinner scheme should be given regularly, not on a consolidated pay basis.

Extended work hours harming drivers

The JAC chairman also expressed his outrage against the management for harassing employees by extending the 8-hour work schedule from 12 to 16 hours, violating the MTW Act. He demanded that the 8-hour workday be continued while implementing the MTW Act.

Many drivers also lost their lives on the wheels due to heavy workloads, and several conductors are also suffering from chronic diseases and are unable to perform their duties, he said, and added that JAC leaders would escalate their protests statewide if their demands are not fulfilled.