Drivers, conductors protest against reduction of Deepavali bonuses

CHENNAI: Drivers and conductors of the Government Transport Employees Union staged a protest outside the Metropolitan Transport Corporation depots against the State government for unilaterally announcing a 10 per cent bonus for Deepavali.

Even as the trade unions of the transport corporation demanding a bonus of 25 per cent, the State government ordered a Deepavali bonus of 8.33 per cent and ex-gratia of 1.67 per cent to Group ‘C’ and ‘D’ workers and employees of the public sector undertakings.

V Dayanantham, general secretary, GTEU urged the Chief Minister to recall the history of the bonus payment to public sector companies. “Transport Corporation employees did not get a 20 per cent bonus straightaway. We got the 20 per cent bonus after a long struggle. In 2001, the Jayalalithaa government slashed the bonus to 8.33 per cent. In protest, the workers resorted to a 17-day strike and about 30,000 workers were arrested. The protest hit the ruling AIADMK government in subsequent Parliamentary polls when it lost all the seats in the state. In 2005, we got the 20 per cent bonus back,” he said.

He added that the Edappadi K Palaniswami government 2020 reduced the bonus again to 10 per cent citing Covid-19. “Now the DMK government has done the same,” he said, demanding a revision of the bonus to 20 per cent.