8-day strike haunts MTC staff as they get transferred

Sources said drivers and conductors attached to certain depots for over a decade were being transferred to centres in a crude disciplining tactic. “I have been working in the Avadi depot. I settled down in Avadi itself. But, I was recently transferred to the Perumbakkam depot,” said an MTC conductor seeking anonymity. 

He has asked the officials concerned to reconsider the decision as the distance from Avadi to Perumbakkam is over 40 km. He said the officials’ tersely replied that he had participated in the bus strike in January and the transfer request cannot be considered. He added that the officials had recently transferred five workers in the Avadi depot alone.

The MTC has 22,000-odd employees, of which around 10,000 had gone on strike for eight days over wage revision issues. “Since then, the officials have been targeting workers and transferring them. Since January 2018, there have been 60 transfers,” another employee said. The officials transfer around 20 workers on an average every month.

MV Ramamurty, joint secretary, Nethaji Transport Workers Union, said the MTC officials do not accept mutual transfers. But they transferred workers who participated in the strike. “At least 5 to 10 workers from depots like Anna Nagar, Ambattur, Thiruvanmiyur and Avadi are transferred to various places every month,” he said. 

Transport unions have expressed displeasure over such acts. K Natarajan, treasurer of the Labour Progressive Federation (LPF), said “the employees have the right to stage protest and go on strike, if they have an issue. The higher-ups in the department keep transferring employees and we have already taken up the issue with the authorities.” The MTC should treat its employees in a fair manner, he said. 

A senior MTC official denied the charges levelled by the employees. “The MTC last year opened a depot in Perumbakkam which accommodates 150 buses. Hence, we have transferred some crew to the depot on a need basis,” the officials said. However, if workers feel inconvenienced, they may approach the branch managers concerned or the MTC headquarters, an official said.