The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation Employees’ League has reiterated that employees of Road Transport Corporations (RTCs) will go on an indefinite strike from April 7 if the State government fails to revise their salaries before April 6.
The union has also announced that employees and their family members will hold different kind of protests between April 1 and April 6; employees will wear black bands while on duty, and sell snacks, tea and coffee at public places, while their family members will form a human chain and display placards of demands, among others.
In a press release, the union has accused the State government of making false claims about fulfilling their demands. “The State government and management have issued orders on some of the demands without consulting employee representatives,” states the release.
The State government has been claiming that out of the nine demands made by the union, eight have been fulfilled.
In its response to the State government’s claim, the union maintained that KSRTC has given ₹30 lakh compensation to dependent families of only seven employees who died after contracting COVID-19, while the rest are yet to get the compensation. On inter-corporation transfers of employees, the Union has said several riders have been imposed on transfer and it will cover only 2% of the employees. The union has accused the managements of not taking concrete steps to address grievances at the workplace.
The union accused the State governmentof adopting delay tactics to revise salaries of the staff on par with 6th Pay Commission recommendations. “No major steps have been taken fulfil demand on pay revision. The management has held only two meetings with office-bearers of the union,” states the release.