Nadu State Transport Corporation crew resorted to a flash strike at the Kariapatti depot on Tuesday in protest against poor condition of the rest house.
They did not take out 20 buses from the depot in the early morning for trips and staged a sit-in protest for two hours.
Last month, the TNSTC hired a new rest house for the crew. “While 30 crew members have to take rest between late nights and early mornings every day, the new rest house has space for only 10 persons,” one of the crew members said. Those drivers and conductors who arrive early (after 10 p.m.) only get space for sleeping.
Stating that the crew who start their duty in the afternoon need a sound sleep for a few hours so that they could resume the early morning duty that would go on till next afternoon, the drivers expressed apprehension about their safety and that of passengers and vehicles.
“Without a good sleep, we have been taking risk for the last one month ever since the rest house was shifted to a new house,” he added.
‘It is far away’
While the depot is located on Madurai Road, the new rest house is located some 500 metres away on Kallupatti Road. “When it rains, we are held up at the depot. This further denies us a good rest at night,” the drivers said. Besides, walking on the road with cash and tickets worth over ₹ 20,000 in the dead of the night will be a security risk, they complained.
The rest house has only one attached bath which makes their condition worse as all the crew members have to get ready within a short span of time in the early hours.
The TNSTC crew said that it was high time the officials shifted both the depot, set up in 2009, and rest house to a government land from rented space so that they get better amenities and the TNSTC need not spend huge monthly rent.
After officials promised to find a solution for their problems at the earliest, the crew gave up the protest and operated the buses.
