Employees of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) on Saturday called off their three-day strike following marathon talks between the representatives of the employees’ joint action committee and the state government that ended in the wee hours.
The employees were back on the job from the first shift on Saturday with over 6,000 buses hitting the roads.
RTC’s Joint Action Committe chairman E Venkanna told reporters that the negotiations with the group of ministers led by deputy chief minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and official delegation led by TGSRTC chairman Y Nagi Reddy ended on a cordial note.
“The state government agreed to the majority of our long-pending demands, including pay revision, declaration of elections to the recognised union, and merger of RTC with the state transport department,” Venkanna said.
Vikarmaka said TGSRTC was part of the state government family. “It is deeply moving when a member of our family is lost,” he said, referring to the death of a 55-year-old driver Shankar Goud, a day after he set himself ablaze at Narsampet depot in Warangal district.
State transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar said the government had directed the TGSRTC management to make necessary arrangements to conduct the elections at the earliest.
He also announced the constitution of an official committee to examine the long-standing demand for the merger of RTC with the state government. The committee will include representatives from the government, RTC management, and employee unions.
On the financial front, the government announced an 11% pay hike as per the Pay Revision Commission recommendation for all the RTC employees. The government also made it clear that several operational issues raised by employees would be addressed through continued dialogue between RTC management and trade unions.
