Trade unions of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation decided to defer the proposed strike from midnight following conciliatory talks initiated by the government.
The decision to defer the strike was taken after the unions reached a consensus on several issues during a meeting with Transport Minister A K Saseendran on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, although the Kerala High Court had ordered the trade unions not to go ahead with the indefinite strike, the workers had vowed to continue with it.
The HC had directed the trade unions to take part in the conciliation talks with the KSRTC authorities slated for Thursday.
Hearing a plea filed against the strike by the Pala-based Centre for Consumer Education, the HC also flayed the KSRTC MD for the delay in holding talks.
The talks were delayed though the notice for the strike was issued on January 1, the HC observed.
The HC also said that the MD had the responsibility to hear the issues raised by the employees.
The rights of the passengers should also be taken into account while holding a strike, the HC noted.
The strike was called by trade unions affiliated to the ruling Left front as well as the opposition parties.
Talks between KSRTC Managing Director Tomin Thachankary and the unions in the morning failed to end the deadlock.
However, Thachankary told reporters that steps would be taken to prevent the disruption of services.
The unions had pointed out that Transport Minister A K Saseendran hadn't even called a meeting to discuss their grievances.
Assurances given by him when a strike was announced on October 2, 2018, were not fulfilled, they charged.
The demands of the trade unions include rejig of single-duty roster, resolution of the crisis sparked by trimming of schedules and reinstatement of sacked employees.
The management wants the unions to abandon the strike as the KSRTC was facing a financial crisis.
The strike call was made by major trade unions incuding the CITU, INTUC and AITUC.
The Centre for Consumer Education had pleaded before the court that the demands of the trade unions were beyond the purview of the KSRTC.
