Today, the Tamil Nadu Transport Unions went on a strike after the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam(AIADMK) led Government denied a pay hike. A total of 12 Transport Unions are participating in the ongoing strike. Tamil Nadu holds a fleet of 22,500 Government buses and 1.4 lakh Government employees. Only one third of the buses are witnessed on roads in Chennai and other places in the State. Chennai holds a large share of 3,500 buses on the roads. Today, the strike has pulled around 15,000 buses off the roads.
It is said the talks with the State Transport Minister M. R. Vijayabaskar bore no fruit resulting in the Unions going on a strike. The buses stopped yesterday evening when the talks were still ongoing. Confusion prevailed among thousands of commuters across the State as both local and long distance bus services halted completely. It is said the Union Leaders expected nearly 95% of the 1.4 lakh employees to participate in the strike.
The employees are demanding salaries on par with the drivers in other States. The Unions demanded a 2.57% hike but the Government is willing to increase only 2.44%. The Union Leader of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK,) M. Shanmugam said, “While our plea was for a 2.57 factor (a wage determination technique), the Government said it was not acceptable and insisted on a 2.44 factor.” The Unions demanded a basic pay of Rs. 19,500 while the Government refuses to move an inch above Rs. 17,700.
The Government’s proposed 2.44% will cost the State an additional of Rs. 81 crores. Vijayabaskar said nearly 35 unions accepted the Government’s proposal. Vijayabaskar termed the Unions’ proposal as unprecedented and appealed to the workers to resume their duties. Coimbatore is among one of the worst hit districts due to the ongoing strike. The impact is minimum in Salem as around 86% of the Government buses there are still operating.
The Leader of Centre of Indian Trade Union, A. Soundararajan said, “We don’t want to subject the public to hardship but the Government is pushing us. It doesn’t want to treat us equally as drivers in other departments. Is our demand unfair? We are not responsible for transport corporations running on losses.”
Actor Kamal Hassan asked the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu E. Palaniswami to resolve the issue at the earliest possible. Kamal said, “Chief Minister ought to kindly hold talks with transport workers. He should have in mind public hardship and just demands of transport workers. That would be a priceless Pongal gift.”
Due to the strike, locals crowded railway counters in Chennai. A Railway Official said, “Unprecedented crowds at stations.” He further added the exact numbers can only be made available tomorrow.
The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) is trying desperately to hire temporary workers. The TNSTC released a statement seeking help from the public. The statement read, “People with heavy duty driving licences can approach the nearest bus depot.”
In Trichy, a total of around 16% from the fleet of 380 attached to five major depots are operating. Unfortunately, desperate efforts from the TNSTC were not fruitful. Around 2 to 3 temporary drivers showed up in each of the five depots. TNSTC offered a pay of Rs. 450 per shift to the temporary workers. The temporary drivers are asked to do a test drive before being let to handle the buses for respective destinations.
