With the Public Transport Department (APSRTC) Employees Unions’ Joint Action Committee gearing up to join the proposed strike against the PRC from the midnight of February 6, the management of the corporation is making alternative arrangements to operate buses in their absence causing minimum inconvenience to the public.
“We are trying our best to see that our employees do not go for strike by explaining to them the reasons why they should not become part of this protest,” said the RTC Managing Director Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao.
Speaking to The Hindu, he asserted that there were strong reasons why the management was trying to dissuade the employees. “For instance, the PRC is not yet implemented for RTC and as on today, GOs with regard to PTD employees are not yet issued. You don’t know where you stand and you want to go for strike,” he said.
He said equalisation of the cadres, an important factor, was not taken up yet. “Which RTC rank is being equated to which rank in other department is not yet finalised and communicated to us. Till then, we would not know how much salary a conductor or a driver would draw,” he explained.
In a last ditch effort, the management representatives held luncheon meeting with all depot managers and the ranks above to urge them for a rethink and also warned them of the consequences if they did not heed their advice.
Mr. Rao said the employees should remember that in the past there were unions governed by labour laws. “Now they are government employees and going on a strike is illegal.”
The management, however, is counting on “a good number of associations who have given us in writing that they will not join the strike. We will utilise their services and if the need arose, we will hire drivers to ensure that the buses operate,” he said, warning of a stringent action in case anyone indulged in “obstructive activities”.
Employee unions firm
Meanwhile, leaders of the PTD Employees Joint Action Committee on Friday reiterated their resolve to join the strike. In a run-up to the strike, they propose to hold dharnas in the 129 RTC depots and four workshops on February 5 and 6.
They said the new PRC was more detrimental to the interests of the RTC employees than their counterparts in other government departments. They said they had submitted a memorandum to the Managing Director demanding immediate solution to their 45 demands on February 1.
