The KSRTC joint trade union committee has decided to go on a 24-hour token strike on August 7.
At a press conference here on Saturday, R. Ayyappan, general secretary, KSTDU; M.G. Rahul, general secretary, KSTEU (AITUC); R. Sasidharan, general secretary, KSTWU (INTUC); and C.K. Harikrishnan, general secretary, KSRTEA (CITU); said the unions were backing attempts to turn around the organisation through restructuring of a loan of ₹3,100 crore, payment of pension, and increasing fares so as to increase revenue.
However, corporation Chairman and Managing Director Tomin J. Thachankary was implementing decisions unilaterally, without any discussion with the unions. This would effectively destroy the corporation.
They alleged that employees doing the same job were not being treated alike. Though money was being deducted from their salary for loans and insurance, this was not being repaid by the corporation. Employees sustaining injuries on job or seriously ill were being asked to quit, instead of being accommodated elsewhere on compassionate grounds. They were not being paid anywhere close to what Mr. Thachankary claimed. Promotions were also being denied.
Launching a slew of new services without detailed study would increase the corporation’s burden. The profitable Flybus from Kozhikode to Nedumbassery had seen a drop in earnings following a change in schedule. There was no rationale for the Chill Bus from Kozhikode to Ernakulam plying via Palakkad, they said. Starting services by taking buses on rent was another move that would backfire, they said.
Mr. Thachankary was making baseless allegations that the unions were responsible for all problems of the corporation. He was also unfairly taking credit for the improvements in the organisation. They denied that there had been an increase in revenue under Mr. Thachankary as claimed by him. On August 31, the KSRTC’s turnover was ₹197.64 crore. In July, it was ₹189 crore. In March, before he assumed charge, it was ₹193.59 crore. In December last year, it was ₹195.21 crore.
It needed to be examined if the revenue increase had kept pace with the fleet improvement, they said.
The strike, they said, was to raise demands, including implementation of pay revision, payment of four instalments of DA, and end to the anti-employee and anti-people policies.