After a 47-day struggle, the agitating Telangana State Road Transport Corporation Joint Action Committee (TSRTC-JAC), a union of employee unions, said it is ready to call off the strike, if the government allows them to return to service without any precondition. According to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, the employees had been ‘self-dismissed’ because they were on strike.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, JAC convenor Ashwathama Reddy said they decided to call off the strike in the larger interest of the public.
Around 48,000-odd TSRTC workers have been on strike since October 5 over 26 demands. Their demands include the merger of the TSRTC with the government, which essentially would make them government employees with the same benefits. However, when the state government rejected their demands, they temporarily dropped the merger demand on November 14.
Slamming the CM for his arrogant attitude and the lack of response, Ashwathama said, “We will resume work if the government is willing to take us back unconditionally. They should not put forth any conditions. We will not sign any documents, but we will resume duties if they agree.”
On Monday, the Telangana High Court said that it can't decide if the strike was illegal or not, and observed that the Labour court had the power to do so. The division bench headed by Chief Justice R S Chauhan then asked the Labour Commissioner to decide whether to move the Labour court or not.
Following this, the JAC leaders convened an emergency meeting on Tuesday which continued on Wednesday. After accessing the physical copy of the High Court order an internal meeting was held with the JAC members, and the decision to call off the strike was taken.
Justifying their protest, Ashwathama said that protest was their democratic right, which they were forced to undertake in order to highlight their plight. He also confirmed that they will pursue the case in the Labour court.
Though the employees have called off the strike, it remains to be seen if the government will take them back, as they had defied two ultimatums given by the Chief Minister. TSRTC in-charge Managing Director Sunil Sharma also accuses them of conniving with the Opposition parties to destabilize the government.
Following the strike, the state government hired temporary drivers and private vehicles to ensure public transport wasn’t disrupted.