TS Mazdoor Union serves strike notice on Transport Minister

Hyderabad: Telangana Mazdoor Union (TMU) of TSRTC serves strike notice on Transport Minister P Ajay Kumar on Wednesday demanding merger of TSRTC with the government, settlement of revised pay scales pending since April 2017 and other demands.

Telangana Mazdoor Union is affiliated to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and it is a recognised union. With this all the unions in the Corporation have given strike notice to the management declaring to go on strike with a common demand of merging the Corporation with the government.

Interestingly, the TMU leaders gave strike notice even to the Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay, who has taken charge only recently. The workers have picked up demand of merger after Andhra Pradesh government merged the Corporation.

Talking to media, TMU general secretary E Ashwadhama Reddy said that if the government solves the issues of the workers there was no need for strike. The main demand of the workers is merger of the Corporation with the government.

"The workers are not getting salaries on first of every month. The management is taking away money of Credit Cooperative Society (CCS). The workers who played a crucial role in the Telangana agitation are getting demoralised," said Ashwadhama Reddy.

The TMU leader refuted that the Corporation was in losses. He said that the occupancy ratio in the RTC buses have increased and it 73 per cent now. "The corporation is not in losses... it is a lie... if we get the bus operations in Andhra Pradesh region, it will further increase the OR.

The corporation consumes Rs 6 crore worth diesel per day and we are paying Rs 1.80 crore as tax. Apart from this we pay Rs 60 lakh everyday as MV tax. If these taxes are relaxed the corporation will be in profits," said the TMU leader.

He demanded the government to give autonomy to RTC for four years and if the workers cannot bring the corporation into profits they will not seek even salaries.

The other demands of the corporation include settlement of revised pay scales and allowances since April 1, 2017, assurances given during the deliberations held in June 2018 with the cabinet sub-committee, payment of DA arrears pertaining to January 2019 and DA dues from July 1, 2019, releasing of amounts due to CCS, job security to the conductors and drivers.