Telangana RTC JAC calls for Strike

metro india news  I hyderabad

The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation Joint Action Committee has announced plans to go on strike, demanding that the government immediately implement the promises made to RTC employees during the elections. The JAC leaders allege that despite repeatedly raising their concerns over the past two and a half years, the government has failed to address the issues affecting RTC workers.

Expressing strong dissatisfaction, the JAC said that whenever employees launched protests, the government held discussions and offered assurances, but those promises were later ignored. Warning that they will no longer tolerate delays, the JAC leaders said the government must honour its commitments or face a full-scale strike.

The RTC JAC will submit a strike notice to the RTC Managing Director on March 13. If the government fails to respond positively, the union leaders have warned that the strike will be intensified. Their key demands include protection of RTC, initiation of the merger process with the government, and implementation of the assurances given to employees.

JAC determined not to Back Down

The RTC JAC had earlier issued strike notices last year as well, accusing the government of neglecting employees’ concerns. At that time, the protest was withdrawn after the government assured that the demands would be addressed. However, with those assurances still unfulfilled, the JAC has now decided to resume its agitation in phases.

As part of the ongoing protest programme, the JAC organised a Chalo Secretariat protest on February 24. Taking the agitation further, the six unions that form the RTC JAC will formally submit strike notices on March 13. Leaders said the strike would begin roughly two weeks after the notice is served if the government does not initiate talks.

The JAC has made it clear that this time it will not withdraw the agitation without concrete action. Apart from the merger of RTC employees into government service, the union is seeking immediate implementation of several other pending demands.

The JAC also plans to mobilise support from workers, political parties, people’s organisations, student groups and Telangana movement activists. Leaders will tour various districts to mobilise employees and seek broader support. They will also meet opposition leaders to request their backing.

With the State Budget session scheduled to begin from March 16, the JAC plans to submit memorandums to legislators requesting them to raise RTC employees’ issues in the Assembly.

JAC leaders said they have no desire to resort to a strike but are being forced into it due to the government’s continued inaction. Around 37,000 RTC employees are still waiting for their merger into government service.

They are also demanding that electric buses should be purchased and operated by RTC itself instead of being linked to privatisation efforts. The 2021 wage revision with a 30 percent fitment remains pending even though five years have passed since the last Pay Revision Commission.

Employees are also demanding clearance of around Rs 2,700 crore pending dues under the Mahalakshmi scheme and payment of retirement benefits to former employees. The unions said that while nearly 17,000 employees have retired since 2014, no major recruitment has been undertaken, resulting in staff shortages and heavy workload.

Key Demands of the RTC JAC

The JAC has placed several demands before the government, including immediate initiation of the process to merge RTC employees into government service, implementation of the 2021 wage revision with 30 percent fitment, and timely monthly payment of funds under the Mahalakshmi scheme.

Other demands include job security for RTC workers, lifting restrictions on trade unions and conducting recognition union elections, reducing excessive workload across categories, and ensuring that electric buses are purchased by the government and handed over to RTC.

The JAC has also demanded resolution of issues faced by women employees, an increase in the number of buses based on passenger demand, filling of all vacancies across categories, settlement of all pending dues of retired employees, providing another opportunity for those whose higher pension applications were rejected, and abolition of the outsourcing system in RTC in favour of regular recruitment.

RTC JAC Chairman Eeduru Venkanna questioned why recognition union elections have not been conducted for RTC workers when the government conducts local body, by elections and Rajya Sabha elections regularly. He said recognition unions are essential for workers to formally present their problems to the management and government.

RTC JAC Vice Chairman M Thomas Reddy stated that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had earlier praised RTC workers as “warriors”, but the promises made to them remain pending. He also pointed out that assurances given by Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar during earlier discussions have not been implemented. Appealing to the government to resolve the issues through dialogue, he urged it not to push workers towards a strike and warned against privatisation of RTC.