Tamil Nadu: Transport workers threaten strike on Feb 19 if long-pending demands not met
To press their demands, the unions have announced a State-wide ‘Workers and Retirees Meet’ on February 19 at all transport offices
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CHENNAI: The Transport Corporation Workers Union, affiliated with CITU and AITUC, have warned of a strike if their long-pending demands including salary revisions, retirement benefits, old pension scheme, filling up of vacancies and halting the appointment of contract workers are not addressed, stating that repeated delays and broken promises have left them with no other option.
To press their demands, the unions have announced a State-wide ‘Workers and Retirees Meet’ on February 19 at all transport offices.
The union said that any new wage agreement must address the concerns of all 2 lakh transport workers and pensioners. They have expressed concern that salary structures, which were disrupted in the 2016 wage agreement, remain lower than those of other state public sector companies’ employees.
“While the pay matrix system was introduced to correct past anomalies, their demand for parity with TN Electricity Board (TNEB) employees has yet to be fulfilled. The TNEB workforce received a 2.57 pay factor in 2016, followed by a 6% salary hike and an additional increment for their golden jubilee year. Meanwhile, transport workers only received the 2.57 factor in the last wage agreement, leaving their base salary below industry standards,” said K Arumuga Nainar, general secretary, CITU-affiliated TN State Transport Corporation Employees Federation.
They call for an end to privatisation efforts, finalisation of pending promotions, and a new 3-year wage agreement. Trade unions demanded the ruling DMK government to scrap the six GOs issued during the previous AIADMK regime to reduce the number of buses, restrict recruitment of new workers, introduce contract jobs and appointment of workers on compassionate grounds only to the drivers and conductors.
