'Fulfil demands or else... face our wrath'

Karnataka transport corpn workers plan strike tomorrow to press for wage hike

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Employees of the four transport corporations in Karnataka are yet again set to strike against the government on Tuesday, which is likely to disrupt the movement of buses in and around the city.

The workers are demanding an end to the “neglectful attitude” of the government, which has not conducted a wage revision in six years. The KSRTC employees will stage a dharna in front of the divisional office of the four corporations, while the BMTC workers will stage a protest at Freedom Park.

Previously, the employees had gone on strike during April 2021, making various demands including increase in their wages. However, the demands have not been met yet, said employee union sources. The transport corporation usually conducts a wage revision once every four years. In 2016, there was a 12.5% pay revision, after which the next revision was to take place in March 2020.

But since then the government has not made any proposal regarding revision. Over 1,30,000 employees of all the four corporations are upset over the 'silence' of the authorities in this matter. The workers are hoping to make enough impact with the Assembly elections around the corner.

“We have presented a list of 14 demands, but CM Bommai has not responded so far. There are vacancies in the department. S till, many workers are outsourced. We are protesting across the state to remind the government of our might for we serve over 1 crore people every day,” asserted Anantha Subba Rao, president of State Road Transport Workers Union.