May 17 2017 : The Times of India (Chennai)

 

`Transport unions to call for strike again, if necessary'

Chennai:





Transport unions on Tuesday called off their strike after an assurance from the government that it would release `1,250 crore pending dues to retired and serving employees of eight transport corporations. Buses will operate normally from Wednesday .

 

The unions' decision to call off the strike comes after a three-hour session with senior ministers K A Sengottaiyan, P Thangamani and transport minister M R Vijayabaskar at the secretariat. “We conveyed the concerns of the transport workers to chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, who in turn agreed to allocate `1,250 crore immediately . He also gave an assurance to release the pending retirement dues of `700 crore by September-end,“ Vijayabaskar said.
The ministers held talks with the union leaders hours after the Madurai bench of the Madras high court criticised the indefinite strike by transport workers, and warned them of action under Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) if they continued with their agitation. The representatives of the striking trade unions were told to appear be fore the court on Wednesday

.The unions, including DMK's Labour Progressive Federation and CPM-affiliated CITU began strike since Sunday , after five rounds of talks with the minister failed. Incidentally , the unions had called off their strike after getting an undertaking from the state that there would not be any “victimisation“ and the two-day strike period would be treated as “leave.“ “We have dropped our strike call and will operate buses from Wednesday .The state has also assured resolving the issues with the management besides replacement of old buses as early as possible,“ LPF general secretary M Shanmugam told TOI.The union leader, who spearheaded the protest said the “strike was successful because of the solidarity extended by the seasoned staffs.“

The total dues of the retired staffs alone amount to `1,652 crore, union leaders said.
A sum of `4,500 crore deducted from the serving employees, meant for provident fund, LIC and credit society , has not been credited to the re spective accounts for several years.

CITU general secretary ASoundararajan said the government said it will look into the modalities of depositing the deducting the sum in three months. “We have partially won the strike with demands being met by the government, which once threw up its hands. We may have called off strike, but we will issue a strike notice again, if necessary ,“ he said. The minister announced resumption of wage revision talks with the unions from May 24.