Thiruvananthapuram: Another strike looms over the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). Various trade unions are set to go on indefinite strike in protest against the inordinate delay in disbursing of salary dues.
The three unions that are on the warpath are the CITU-led Kerala State Road Transport Employees Association (KSRTEA); INTUC-affiliated Transport Democratic Federation (TDF) and the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS).
While the KSRTEA and the TDF have warned of an indefinite strike if the authorities fail to clear the dues by Tuesday, the BMS has called for a strike on Monday.
Blockade before Transport Bhavan
The CITU and INTUC unions, meanwhile, have launched an indefinite protest in front of the Transport Bhavan, the coporation's headquarters near East Fort.
The KSRTEA and TDF jointly staged a blockade in front of the office demanding to rectify the anomalies in salary disbursal. No officers, including the Executive Directors of the KSRTC, were permitted to enter the office here during the protest.
Yet another deadline missed
The unions linked to the ruling and opposition parties in Kerala have decided to join hands for the protest after the KSRTC management missed the deadline for full salary disbursal - the fifth day of every month - as assured by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, for a second time.
The CITU, which lashed out at the KSRTC management and the minister concerned, alleged that the department was mired neck-deep in corruption.
The CITU also urged the State Government to initiate steps to 'rein in' the KSRTC management. “Nothing is going the right way in the corporation as of now and the minister as well as its management have some vested interests to safeguard,” they alleged. It accused the management of deliberately sabotaging the direction from the Chief Minister to disburse salary within the fifth day of every month.
The INTUC leadership, meanwhile, attributed the delay in disbursing the second installment of salary to the 'ineptitude' of the management and warned not to force them into an indefinite strike.
The management, on the other hand, said that the first installment could be disbursed by drawing a bank loan and that the finance department should accord consent for disbursing the second installment. The unions, however, are refusing to buy into this argument, pointing to a Rs 270 crore rise in the corporation’s revenue.
Meanwhile, the KSRTC decided to invoke 'dies non' for three days for employees failing to report for work in view of the indefinite strike called by the unions. (Dies non is a day on which no official duty will be performed)
