Transport staff call off strike as govt agrees to demands
CHENNAI: The three-day stalemate came to an end as the Transport Employees’ Unions called off the State-wide bus strike on Saturday after the government agreed to meet their demands.
The announcement was made after tripartite talks between unions, the Transport Department and the Labour Department. In a joint statement issued by the unions, decisions have been taken to provide dearness allowance (DA) to the employees in a phased manner apart from releasing DA from February to the retired employees.
“Also, a decision was taken to provide retirement benefits to the retired employees and the transport corporations have decided to implement already agreed upon decisions taken during earlier meetings, “the statement said.
The unions also urged the Transport Department not to take action against the employees, who had participated in the protest and not to deduct their salaries.
Nine transport unions, including LPF, CITU, INTUC and others, announced the State-wide strike from Thursday. Bus transportation across the State was hit for the last three days as the transport corporations could only operate buses for employees belonging to the ruling party trade union.
The protest was announced after the 14th wage revision agreement talks between the Transport Department and employees’ unions failed. The wage agreement had lapsed in 2019. Unions refused to accept the offer made by the department to provide Rs 1,000 per month to the employees from February 2021.
“Also, the department has agreed to provide arrears from September 2021, “the statement said.