Bus strike off; staff agree for 12.5% hike

Bengaluru, July 28, 2016, DHNS:The three-day strike by the employees of the four state transport corporations ended on Wednesday with trade unions agreeing for a 12.5% hike in wages. The unions had been demanding a 35% hike. The salary revision will cost the STCs an additional Rs 700 crore a year. On Wednesday, the government held a series of meetings with the trade union representatives who scaled down their demand to 18%, but the government rejected it. After another round of talks with Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy and top officials of the STCs, the unions settled for a 12.5% revision in wages. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, too, approved the decision, following which the unions called off the strike and allowed the employees to resume operations. KSRTC Staff and Workers’ Federation general secretary H V Anantha Subbarao and KSRTC Managing Director Rajender Kumar Kataria announced at a joint press conference on Wednesday that the strike had been called off after the chief minister agreed to hike the wages by 12.5%. Later, Siddaramaiah told reporters that the remaining demands would be addressed in a month. However, no decision was taken on reinstating the employees who were suspended or dismissed during the strike. The chief minister also apologised for the inconvenience caused to the public. This is the longest strike by the STCs in the recent past. The previous one was in 1997 for two days when the KSRTC was split into four corporations.