Kerala RTC Unions Drop Indefinite Strike Call Following Govt. Assurance

The joint council of trade unions of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) on Wednesday, January 16, decided to drop the plan to go on an indefinite strike from Wednesday midnight, after meeting the transport minister AK Saseendran. The meeting took place after the Kerala High Court had stayed the strike. Though the court had stayed the strike, the workers were planning to proceed with it.

During the meeting, the minister assured the implementation of the new single duty revision pattern. The workers and unions were also promised that the demand for re-instating empanelled conductors in a phased manner would also be considered, in addition to discussion on the issue of salary revision. On December 6, the Kerala High Court had ordered to retrench the empanelled workers within a week to give way for the candidates who had secured advice memo from the state Public Services Commission.

Also Read: Kerala RTC Workers to go on Indefinite Strike From January 17

Earlier, the unions had given the call for an indefinite strike from January 17, raising their demands including salary revision in a time-bound basis and payment of dearness allowance arrears. The trade unions have also demanded that the workers who have been terminated from work should be hired back. Except for the RSS-affiliated Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh, all other unions were scheduled to take part in the strike.

The High Court, earlier on Wednesday, had observed that the talks were delayed though the strike notice had been issued on January 1. The court had also directed the MD to take the responsibility of hearing the issues raised by workers.