Talks fail, bus strike to continue

Even as the talks were held between the representatives of the employees’ trade unions and Transport Minister MR Vijayabhaskar on Thursday night, they remained inconclusive.

Transport Minister appealed to the union representatives to accept the interim relief of Rs 1,000 per month till the conclusion of the wage talks, which was announced after consulting the Chief Minister and to call off their strike, said sources. However, the unions rejected the interim relief as inadequate. “The unions urged the Minister to consult with the Chief Minister respecting the workers’ protest and hold the next round of talks on Friday,” sources said.

On Friday morning, the members of the Confederation of All the Trade Unions in the Transport Corporation staged protests at the depots across the state seeking wage revision, settlement of retirement benefits and non-allocation of funds in the budget to compensate the losses incurred by the corporation.

In the city, several passengers who were affected by the partial operation of MTC buses owning to strike made use of the Metro rail services. The Metro rail too had increased peak service operation duration from 7 am to 11 am and 4 pm to 8 pm with a frequency of five minutes.