TSRTC JAC falls apart as members leave in droves

Hyderabad: The RTC unions which were part of the Joint Action Committee and spearheaded 55-day strike last year, are coming out one after the other.

After the Supervisors Association, the Employees Union has backed out of the RTC JAC for which the TMU had played lead role. The TSRTC unions had formed JAC to fight for the cause of the workers and went on strike.

The unions were involved in 55 days of the strike under the JAC, but after the strike was called off and the Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao held a meeting with the employees, the unions started coming out of the JAC.

The Supervisors Association was the first to come out of the RTC JAC. The association leaders reasoned that the strike was called off and the Chief Minister had assured to take care of the welfare of the employees. It may be mentioned here that the Supervisors Association was part of the strike for the first time.

The Employees Union has also moved out of the JAC now. The Employees Union leaders said that the JAC was not meeting to discuss and analyse the situation after calling off the strike.

The EU leaders have also questioned the silence of the JAC even after the workers were facing many issues. The EU general secretary K Raji Reddy said that even after the government stating that there would be no union elections for a period two years, there was no response from the JAC.

"The workers are unhappy that we are not speaking on their issues even after being in the JAC. Hence we have decided to come out of JAC and fight as EU only," said Raji Reddy.

Some union leaders feel that the convener E Ashwathama Reddy was not keen on taking the responsibility of the JAC. "He has been seeking leave from the management and there is no response on the issues faced by the employees like harassment by the officials in depots," said a union leader, who was part of the JAC 1.

He further said that the JAC failed to get wage revision even after 55 days of strike and added that in the coming days the remaining unions will also come out.