Mallika Dureja
An employee association of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has called for a demonstration to take place on Wednesday at the Freedom Park in Bengaluru. The employees have a number of requests, one of which is a pay raise.
The demonstration will be attended by approximately one thousand members of the KSRTC Employees’ Koota, which is comprised of more than fifteen thousand workers. R Chandrashekar, the state president of the KSRTC Employees’ Koota, stated that the demonstration will not have any effect on the bus operations.
Their primary request pertains to a wage increase that is to take affect on January 1st, 2020. The compensation that workers at the KSRTC receive is significantly lower than the pay that workers receive at other government departments. According to Chandrashekar, the disparity can range anywhere from 19% to 65% depending on the individual.
Their other requests include the overturning of suspensions, the reassignment of workers, and the filing of charges against those who took part in the strike in April 2021.
On Monday evening, representatives of the Joint Action Committee of RTC Trade Unions, which represents six staff associations, had a discussion with the managing director of KSRTC, V Anbukumar, as well as the director of security and vigilance for Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), Radhika G, and other officials about their demands.
According to the statements made by the members of the Joint Action Committee, there is no room for negotiation regarding the pay revision agreement that will go into effect on January 1, 2020, and the employees should be paid their entire arrears. In addition, they demanded a raise in yearly salary, an increase of 3% of the revised basic salary, and a salary scale, all of which, along with their other demands, needed to be thoroughly discussed and resolved.
“Anbukumar welcomed the financial situation of the transport corporations and the assistance provided by the government to the corporations, among other problems,” the association said in its statement. “Anbukumar also welcomed the assistance provided by the government to the corporations.”
Chandrashekar stated that the management representatives would conduct another meeting with the KSRTC Employees’ Koota on Wednesday, as well as with other staff unions in the following days to address their concerns and discuss their concerns.
