Transport employees withdraw strike in Karnataka

The two-day old indefinite strike by employees of state-run transport corporations, which had thrown normal life out of gear, was called off today after the government hammered out a settlement with them.

Transport Minister R Ashoka said strike by the Joint Committee of Trade Unions of State Road Transport Undertakings had been withdrawn with immediate effect following the settlement which would impose an additional burden of Rs 250 crore on the four transport corporations over the next four years.

"Such an agreement was due only in January 2016," he said.

Ashoka said the unions’ main demand for merging the Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA) of 76 per cent with the Basic Salary (after the 10 per cent hike) with effect from April 1, 2012, had been accepted.

To address the employees’ remaining demands, a committee including their representatives would be formed and within a month, these issues too would be sorted out, Ashoka said.

The government also agreed to release all those arrested and withdraw notices issued to employees during the strike. Showcause notices served on trainee employees also would be withdrawn, Ashoka, who holds the Transport portfolio, said.

However, the demand for absorbing as regular staff thousands of trainees was not immediately acceptable to the government, Ashoka said, adding, they would be paid an additional Rs 1,000 a month from September, which would earn them Rs.8,000 a month.

All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) leader H V Ananthasubba Rao, who spearheaded the strike, thanked the government for the agreement.

The strike launched by employees of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation and three other corporations had hit bus services across the state.